Antique Carte De Visite CDV Photographs of a Woman

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Discovered in a box of antique photographs taken in Berlin and other Germany locales in the late 1800s, this set … Read more Discovered in a box of antique photographs taken in Berlin and other Germany locales in the late 1800s, this set of carte de visite (CDV) shows a well-dressed woman staring directly at the camera. She wears a beautifully detailed blouse, black skirt, and a wedding ring. It is very unusual to come across three identical carte de visite that were never circulated.

The cards are in amazingly good condition for their age. They show some minor surface wear including scratches, rubs, as well as a few photograph printing flaws. Each sepia photograph is mounted on heavy brown card stock marked with gilt engraving indicating the photography studio - Samson & Co Berlin, which was located at Turmstr. 76a Frankfurter Allee 113.

As the cards were hand cut, they are not quite identical in size and measure approximately 5 1/4" x 2 1/2". The sepia prints would look amazing displayed together in a triple frame.

Carte de visite were invented in Paris by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854. He also developed a method of producing eight separate negatives on one plate making it easier to produce multiple cards of an identical image. Carte de visite became all the rage with wealthy city dwellers in the late 1880s, and were traded among friends and relatives. See less