This portrait features a seated man and a standing woman. The woman wears a bold dress and has one hand on the man's shoulder.

On the brass mat at lower left: "AMBROTYPE BY REHN" and at lower right: PATENT JULY 4TH & 11TH 1854".

Those dates apply to the following patents:

- 11,213, Improvement in the preparation of collodion for photographic pictures, issued to James A. Cutting, Boston, Massachusetts, July 4, 1854.

- 11, 266, Improvement in compositions for making photographic pictures, James A. Cutting, Boston, Massachusetts, July 11, 1854.

(Scroll to the bottom for information on the partnership between Rehn and Cutting.)

Isaac Rehn's ambrotype patent:

- 13,885, Improved photographic bath, Philadelphia, PA., December 4, 1855.

(source for the patent information above: American Photographic Patents The Daguerreotype & Wet Plate Era 1840 - 1880, by Janice G. Schimmelman)

Rehn had other photographic patents after the ambrotype era.

DIRECTIONS label affixed inside the case: "DIRECTIONS. It will be perceived that the black varnish constituting the back ground of these AMBROTYPES, is not in contact with the Picture, but, upon a second glass cemented to that on which the picture is made. If, therefore, the varnish should crack, or become rubbed from the glass, the picture will not by this be the least impaired, as the whole of the varnish may be removed without injury, and a new back ground supplied by the addition of a new coating of black varnish. This is not the case with pictures made on single glass, and which are not cemented, as the least injury to these destroys the picture for ever. AMBROTYPES Are not reversed, without glare, fine in tone, and brilliant in effect, besides being proof against acids, water, air or climate. Patented in the United States, Great Britain, and France, AND MADE IN PHILADELPHIA , By I. REHN, only, American Gallery of Photography, No. 126 Arch St."

SIZE. Quarter plate.

CONDITION. Ambrotype: Very good. Case: As seen in the scans.

APPEARANCE. Rich tones. Stylish attire. Lovely composition.

ISAAC REHN. "Rehn first appears in Philadelphia city directories in 1845 as a painter, but in 1849 he turned to the profession of photographer and traveled to Boston to become the partner of the daguerreotypist James A. Cutting. With Cutting, Rehn became part owner of patents for a variety of photographic processes, including one for a wet collodion negative process that became known as the ambrotype. Returning to Philadelphia in 1853, he traveled for several years to promote this invention.

With the declining popularity of the ambrotype, Rehn continued his technical experiments in photographic processes. He became involved in photolithography and the production of paper prints ranging in size from the very small stereoscopic print to life size enlargements made with a solar camera. His unique photogram of a fern suggests British photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot's first experiments in the mid-1830's. Like Rehn's later trials, Talbot had placed plant leaves directly onto sensitized paper, which slowly turned dark when exposed to sunlight, leaving the paper beneath the leaves white." (source: Smithsonian American Art Museum website)