A set of 10 clear glass plates for ambrotype and collodion negatives. Exact size 128 × 178 mm, 2 mm thick.
What it is for
Glass was the first support for wet plate historically and remains the most beautiful. Two different things are made on it. An ambrotype: the finished plate is backed with black and the negative image reads as a positive, with a silvery depth metal never gives. Or a collodion negative, contact-printed afterwards onto albumen or salted paper.
How to use it
An important warning from the maker, worth reading before you buy: this size does NOT fit the Chamonix 5×7" wet plate holder. If that is your camera, check the seat beforehand. Clean the glass thoroughly before flowing — any trace of grease lifts the collodion right there in the tray.
How it compares
Wet plate is a mid-nineteenth-century process: the plate is flowed with collodion, sensitised in silver nitrate, exposed and developed before the layer dries — the whole thing in a matter of minutes, from pouring to fixing.
Against aluminium plates: glass gives the depth people take up the process for, but it breaks and weighs three times as much. For work away from home metal is more practical; in the studio, glass.
