Tintype; lady wearing a feather hat c1860s-1870s.

An original, hand-tinted, Victorian tintype photograph. A tintype (or ferrotype/melanotype) is a unique, direct positive photograph made on a thin sheet of metal, typically iron and not tin, coated with black lacquer or enamel. Tintypes were popular during the 19th century. They are more robust and cheaper than glass plates. Tintypes were at the height of their popularity during the 1860s and 1870s but a lesser use of the medium persisted into the 1930s. There has been something of a revival in the 21st century. It can be a beautiful way of making images.