Portrait on photographic base

Jenny Ford asked about a portrait found in the wall of her house
that appeared to be a cross between a photograph and a drawing.  My
guess is that it is a "Crayon" or "Charcoal portrait".  These were
commonly done between 1880 and 1920.  These were photographic
enlargements, printed very faintly, that were then touched up with
charcoal, crayon or pastels.

It is unusual to find one in good condition.  Most have suffered
damage due to the embrittlement of the image and it's support.  If
you wish to save the image information, you should have it copied by
a photographer.  If you are more interested in saving the original
artifact, it should be housed as you would a drawing, in a mat and
preferably in a frame or archival storage box. The original will
probably continue to deteriorate and become more brittle over time,
therefore a copy photograph should be used for display.

If you have any further questions, please contact me directly or on
the list.

Roger Watson
Conservation Laboratory
George Eastman House
900 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
716-271-3361 ext. 323

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:19
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 15, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-19-002
                                  ***