29221b. (tintype) U.S. Life Saving Service Surfman c.1880’s.
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29221b. (tintype) U.S. Life Saving Service Surfman c.1880’s.
29221b. (tintype) U.S. Life Saving Service Surfman c.1880’s. 1/4th. plate. Offered is an incredibly rare tintype of a U.S. Life Saving Service Surfman with wife or girlfriend. The subject is sitting in a chair, probably in the photographer’s studio. Clearly visible is the gentleman’s cap, with no markings, but on his uniform jacket right sleeve is the life ring with crossed oar and pike and the letters “US” over “LSS”, and on his left sleeve is his ranking number “5”. He appears to be a fairly young man. We have long suspected that, like cabinet views and other early forms of photography, there must have been some tintypes of life-savers produced but until now we had never been able to find any. Presently this is one of only three known to us. Tintypes, also known as a ferrotypes, originated in the early 1850’s and became the choice for photographers before photographic paper was invented. The use of this form peaked in the 1861-1870 period and began to give way to other forms of photography by 1900. Tintypes were produced on a metallic sheet (not actually tin) instead of the more common glass plates. The sheet was coated and sensitized just before use, as in the wet plate process. These early metal plates were then placed in the back of a box camera and exposed directly though the camera lens. Because of this all forms of early photography resulted in a mirror image of the subject, as is this image. The most common size for a tintype was 2 5/8” x 3 ¼” [1/6 plate], but they were made in numerous sizes. Tintypes were the first inexpensive photographic print and as such, made photography available to the working class. Also, being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by mail, and many photographers did quite a trade visiting the encampments during the Civil War. The surfman sports a single breasted jacket common to life-savers of this early era, but without the brass buttons instituted in the later in th e1880’s. I would suspect that this image was captured in the early 1880’s, during the earlier years of the reorganized Life-Saving Service. Measures 3 3/8” x 5” and is in original cardboard mount. Condition is very good, clear, fine contrast, some scratches and marks from mount and storage. Extremely rare. (VG). $425.