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than not, artistic and family pictures, and those for
private use were framed, while applied photographs
for illustrated reports, and scientifi c purposes mostly
remained without a frame unless they were later used
for the formerly stated reason.
The expertise of the photographer be it professional,
hobbyist or private, was not as signifi cant as the reason
or the genre of photographs in determining what would
be framed. Amateur, dilettante works, landscape or event
photographs were usually rarely placed in ornamental
and expensive frames, and on the contrary, that was
typical of portraits in the 19th century.
Photographs were thought to be similar to draw-
ings and paintings, and in general, thought to be the
more artistic product of the genre of representation, of
everyday life. It was especially true if the appearance
of photographs were similar to that of a drawing or
painting because then the same functions were fulfi lled.
Early products of positive procedures, like the talbotype
positives, Calotype Prints, Talbotype Prints, Salted
Paper Prints or the Salted Paper Prints were produced
until the 1860s, and so were Plain Paper Prints, which
were used to make photographs look like large-sized
coloured landscapes. Portrait photographs were meant
to look as if they were painted over canvasses to strongly
resemble aquarelles or temperas, and to appear passe-
partouted or in traditional frames in elegant homes or
at exhibitions.
Daguerreotypes were put into expertly crafted, glazed
picture-frames varying in thickness mainly in order to
protect them and prevent them from being damaged
(Karlovits 1973, 33). Another method of protection was
to place them into wooden, or from 1854 on, plastic cas-
es called the Union case, which were lined with pressed
pigskin, or more seldom with cowhide, or with paper
and could be locked with embellished silver snaps. Such
cases were manufactured by craftsmen and bookbinders
or specialists, according to the Commercial Directory
of Birmingham. For instance it is said that John Smith
made thermoplastic cases in England from 1859.
The carefully designed cases were decorated with
embossed motives. Manufacturers produced millions
of cases; therefore the possibilities of different decora-
tions are very vast. The lids of the wooden cases bore
the popular decorative motives of plant ornaments.
These traditional motives were usually replicated from
the cases of miniature paintings and silhouette pictures.
Many times the same cases were used for containing
daguerreotypes and William Shew, for instance, made
such cases in Boston.
Other types of decoration could also be seen on
plastic cases to the degree that about 800 patterns can
be found today. Between the prefi gured earlier forms
used for similar functions, replications of prayer book
covers or church windows, as well as adaptations of
classic paintings can also be found. The themes of the
motives vary from religious scenes from the life of the
Saint Family to historic Columbus stepping on the land
of America to even other popular fi gures like Cupid,
musicians, children, chess players, and fi re fi ghters.
Additionally, the art or style in which these cases were
made helps historians date the making of the cases; for
example, patriotic motives only appeared following the
American Civil War.
The inside of the case-lids were protected by em-
bossed velvet, while daguerreotypes themselves were
protected by decoratively tailored distance pieces like
passe-partout made of copper or other material, cover
glasses, airtight adhesive tape at the seal, and by carbon
from behind. It was not until 1850 that the thin, fl exible,
gilded brass framing appeared, which held the picture,
the passe-partout and the glass together.
The extension of the passe-partout placed above the
daguerreotypes was extremely diverse. The shape of
the passé-partout served as an indicator in identifying
the time period in which they were manufactured as
square forms with cut off corners and oval or arched
forms were typical of the 1840s, while four-, eight-,
nine- or multi-angled arched forms were used until the
1850s. In the decade that followed, the whole surface,
primarily the line of the extension, was decorated. The
decoration consisted of thinner or thicker lines and
circles that closely fi t together, thus creating the visual
effect of gems or strings of pearls. The surface of the
passe-partout could be plain, with no decoration in order
to emphasise the picture as much as possible, or it could
be richly decorated and consequently the “frame” would
give the “picture” the optical illusion of spatiality.
In the 1850s daguerreotypes were relatively costly
to make, therefore, they were seldom produced and
mainly owned by the wealthy. Their exterior was made
to suit the taste of the customers. Portraits functioned as
a status symbol through the act of self-representation,
and as such, these images depicted mostly people of
the higher classes who were usually “framed” in most
decadent ways.
Ambrotypes or Collodion Positives on Glass (1851–
1885) were placed in cases similar to daguerreotypes.
They were used so frequently because photograph
dealers and photographers wanted to make use of their
leftover stocks after daguerreotypes went out of fashion.
Interestingly enough, owners of daguerreotypes often
replaced the pictures with new ones in instances where
they became damaged or if another person became more
important to them, which indicated that installations
were valuable articles and why they were inherited
throughout generations.
In the decades that followed, multiple photographs
became common as more inexpensive media was used.
The wealthy favoured the unique, masterly elaborate,