These days, it seems, there is no shortage of people shooting dozens of "selfies" day after day. We have the mobile phone camera to thank for this—and the fact that it costs nothing to take yet another photograph. A century ago, well before the invention of digital photography, expensive and delicate rolls of film needed to be purchased and later developed into paper photographs. Photography was a costly exercise. A century before that (circa 1822), photography was a brand new technology, thanks to pioneering photo-inventor Joseph Niépce of France. For the next several decades, photographic processes improved, though sitters still needed to engage a professional (usually in a studio or other establishment) to have their portrait recorded. For this reason, people in the Mid-Nineteenth Century might have taken only one or two photos in their lifetimes. Sitting for a photo portrait was a rare and serious endeavor. Perhaps this is why Nineteenth Century portraits rarely show smiling or silly expressions.
Joseph Niépce (1765-1833), was a French inventor and pioneer in early photography. He invented Heliography, one of the first "permanent" photographic processes. Though he captured his first image in 1822, his first surviving photograph we have is a landscape he took on his French estate, circa 1826.
The handsome Victorian brass frame, shown above, was made in the 1890s. It was made to hold a small photograph; indeed, large photos from the period are exceedingly rare. This frame's simple—yet bold—profile will create a strong accent around your favorite little portrait (new or old). Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248