Have you ever wondered how museums store photographic images that are on glass? Well wonder no more! These three Japanese ambrotypes, a particular type of image on glass, were the subject of a recent rehousing project. When they arrived at the museum they were in plastic bags, but better housing was called for. In order to protect the glass images against light and dust, the ambrotypes were originally housed in wooden cases. However, those cases had seen better days and needed some additional protection to keep them in stable condition.

All ambrotypes and other cased photographs such as tintypes and daguerreotypes in the CAM collection have custom made boxes. The process of creating such boxes involves using somewhat heavy, acid-free paper and cutting and creasing it, using the wooden case housing the glass plate as a template. It’s a very hands-on process and great care should be taken with fragile wooden cases.  In the case of splintered wood or loose glass plates, those issues need to be addressed in by a conservator before creating a custom box. This style of box is called a 4-flap folder, and it’s used for vertical storage. As the name suggests, in vertical storage the object stands upright. Being stored this way goes a long way in preventing additional damage from shifting in a bigger box, removing pressure from other objects sitting on top of them, and of course, keeping the objects clean.

This rehousing is part of a larger project researching and cataloguing the three ambrotypes. I’m a grad student studying 19^th century Japanese art at the University of Chicago, so I jumped at the chance to work with some 19^th century Japanese objects in person. I’ve spent the summer interning for Photography and Conservation departments, and this project in particular highlights the intertwined nature of curation and conservation in understanding and preserving objects for study. I’ll talk about the historical background and meaning behind these portraits in another blog post.