Help dating a photograph

[Selous]

Can anyone help with dating this photograph? It has been suggested that it might be as early as 1850-1860 - confirmation, or a firmer date would help me eliminate ancestors and get a better idea of who it might be, as sadly those who would know are no longer with us
Thanks

[Hackstaple]

1860 would be pretty close. The women wears a crinoline skirt and the man has what was known as a  "sack suit" - all parts in the same material. Much earlier and one sees the men dressed in pants, jacket and waistcoat of different materials. By 1870 the crinoline had gone.

[nickgc]

Welcome to RC.  Definitely early since it has every indication of the original being a tintype.  Do you have the original, or is yours just a copy or scan?  Note that the man's buttons are reversed from how they actually would be.

I'll go with Hack's estimate.

Nick

[Selous]

My copy is just a scan, but a relative has the original - it is on a glass plate, about three inch square
Jackie

[jim1]

what you have is called an Ambrotype,originally in a little gilt case,the oval shape you can see.
a lovely hand tinted mid - late 1850's picture & possibly a wedding photo.
As the image was directly transferred to the glass these are in reverse as you can tell by the man's jacket.The lady has moved her wedding ring to the opposite hand to make it look right.
This is how it would have looked at the sitting.
lovely photo.

jim

[squiggle]

I think that these two could be mother and son, I think she looks a fair bit older than him and I think that they look very similar, particularly around the mouth,.....

All the best
Becky

[maggbill]

I agree with Becky - they look so similar, around the mouth and chin - related? Older sister and brother? or mother and son?  Lovely photo.  Good luck with the search!

[jim1]

He looks early 30's & she around mid - late 30's.She would have to be in her 50's at least to be his mother & she isn't that old.a woman in her 50's wouldn't have hands or hair in that condition.

jim

[squiggle]

I think he looks more like early twenties and she in her forties. I still think mother and son.
Of course it's just an opinion,

They are so similar altogether, but  the lines between the corners of her mouth and her nose are much more pronounced, (happens with age!)

  Becky