need help dating tintype photo

[tjtyle]

Hi all: I just joined because i was doing some research on tintype photos and wanted to pin down as close as possible the approximate dates of these two tintypes by dress style and furniture style. They are of the same lady and were taken at the same studio. I'm basing that by the pattern on the floor.
I don know if you can enlarge & lighten them from my down load. If enlarge the photo of the woman by herself shows what appears to be a watch chain.
If you can't enlage them get in touch with me and i can email a scan.

Thanks
Tom

[TommyO]

Hopefully, someone else can get you close. I don't think those with this level of expertise read these posts real often, so it could be a while.

However, I don't necessary agree that it is the same studio. The flooring is similar but not the same. The furniture is of differing era's, the lighting different, the backdrop very different. I'm not sure I could draw the same conclusion.

Judging age based upon props and clothing can be misleading. So, I hate to guess. The only definitive answer is to know who they are. Otherwise, you could be as much as 50 years off.

[Daviskw]

No expert here but I think the heyday for tintypes was early 1850's to 1880's

Just a guess of course but I have some with the same style dress and backdrops and they were taken in the 1870's

Butch

[tjtyle]

Thanks
If I'm correct old photo studios used to update there studios with the lates furniture styles. The furniture when the woman is younger is rocco revival, the one with her child may be renaissance revival to eastlake. The dress style may pin it down further. Since I'm a guy, I have no clue to dress terminology, other than learning to say to my wife that looks nice on you.

[Littlecoo]

I'm with Butch and TJ on this- clothes and furniture look consistent with style around the 1870s. Here is a site I found with a well organized collection of dated photographs as quite a handy reference.

[crazyfly1]

really neat site littlecoo. Thank you

[plugsnpixels]

Yes, thanks for that link! I am doing family history research and have tons of unlabeled photos to place in a particular time period. I had been under the impression tintypes were more in use closer to the Civil War, but it seems they were still used into the 1900's.

I don't have them on this computer but I have scans from a tintype taken in a photo studio and a paper print of the same set in the same studio, but with different people. Since they are both in the family collection, I can only wonder how far apart in time they were taken, or perhaps studio patrons had a choice of photography types (ie, one was cheaper than the other). Maybe they were taken on the same day!.

I am amazed at the sharpness of the detail captured in tintypes. Once scanned, some Levels work brings dull the image to life.

BTW, I published some RetouchPro members' retouches of old family photos in my last ezine (issue 12).