Antique Tintype Portraits

Tintypes, also known as melainotypes or ferrotypes, are photographs created by developing a direct positive image on a thin metal sheet coated with dark lacquer or enamel. The pictures were mainly produced in the 1860s and 1870s but continued to be used until the early 20th century.

Tintypes made portrait photography cheap and truly accessible to the masses. Initially tintypes were produced in formal photographic studios, but later photographers used booths or worked outdoors at fairs and carnivals. The photograph's unique lacquered iron support allowed it to be developed and handed to customers within a few minutes.

Tintypes captured various settings and subjects and were used extensively during the Civil War to document soldiers and battle scenes. While it lost popularity to albumen prints on paper, it continued as a carnival novelty and was sturdier than its predecessor, the ambrotype, which used glass as support.

Item Info: The tintype you receive may have minor scratches and other environmental damage as pictured. For tintypes that include a paper mat (frame), the size measurement is based only on the photograph itself. Each will include a Certificate of Authenticity.

From left to right: tintypes of famed outlaw Billy the Kid, an unidentified Civil War soldier, and Abraham Lincoln (all taken in the 1860's to 1880's).