Photographic History Collection: Photographs of Fabric
notes: label: Description
content: Photographs on cloth appeared in the early development of photography, as early as the 1840s and 1850s. The finished product varied, but the ever-popular souvenir pillow circulated widely, and was most often made of pastel or white cotton sateen. The images were usually portraits, but sometimes landscape, and architecture was used to decorate the fabric. Silver based images were usually imprinted on fabric, as well as, iron-based images that yielded a blue color (cyanotypes). Sir John Herschel discovered the cyanotype process circa 1840. The cyanotype is formed when the photographic paper is coated with an emulsion of iron and salt, which creates a blue-tinted image. This process was not used widely as a final format process until it become popular the early 1900s. Amateur photographers started using the cyanotype process because of its low cost and easy processing. Likewise, cyanotypes on fabric only became popular in the late 19th century when they were used as home decorative and novelty objects. Cyanotypes on fabric were used as sheets, lampshades, pillows, blankets, quilts, and other interesting home decorative elements. The portrait pillow was part of Kodak's marketing known as 'blueprint linen' from 1885 to 1910.
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content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: COLL.PHOTOS.000013
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Photographs of Fabric Collection
label: Object Name
content: Photographs on Fabric Collection