About This Image

A brilliantly colored, large scale ivorytype of a young girl and flower basket. The image has been signed and dated (" B.F. Ferguson 1863") on the glass, recto. Encased in a wooden mat and backing sheet with the stenciled logo of the photographer's studio. It is rare to find a signed and dated image such as this.The ivorytype is in good condition, though spider markings appear in the background.

Ferguson worked as an ambrotypist in Philadelphia in the early 1860's. His logo gives his address as the South West corner of 8th & Arch Street.

In the ivorytype process, a photographic image was transferred to imitation ivory or to glass back with ivory-tinted paper. These were popular in the 19th century, and were intended to resemble a painting on ivory.