Posted By:
ramramI posted this on an earlier thread regarding some aids in helping to date tintypes. As Barry states - you must be careful with cased images since many people have added the cases more recently. ---
The cases can also help date the tintype. Cases for tintypes, for the most part, disappeared after the civil war (1865). This was because of cost. CDV's had become mainstream by the end of the war and cased tintypes were too expensive to compete with them. They began selling the tintypes without a case. For this reason, most uncased tintypes have bends, scratches and creases in them. Some people will purchase cases and place these old tintypes in them just to help protect them. This can sometimes make it difficult to date a tintype. This is when it becomes important to look at the type of clothing/uniform as well as the type of backdrop used in the image (for those that have seen a lot of tintypes, you can also tell the age by the focus...the background tends to be less well focused in the earlier images). Also, if the image has bends, which it wouldn't get if it had been cased since it's purchase, it probably was placed in the case more recently. You can also look for mat marks. Cased images have a brass "mat" over the top of them, usually in an oval or rectangular shape. These mats would usually leave a mark on the tintype. So...if there are mat marks it usually means it was original to the case and therefore most likely pre-1865. Another small hint can be in the backdrop. Pre-1865 tintypes usually have no backdrop or a very plain backdrop. Post-1865 images started having fancier backdrops including fake grass and split-rail fences.
By the way, here is the football tintype that David mentioned. It is circa 1870. It is the only football tintype that I have ever seen. It was uncased, with some small bends, when I got it (I placed it in a quarter-plate size case for its protection). Because the players have long pants on instead of knickers then the uniforms would hint at pre-1870. The fake grass and fancier backdrop hints at post-1865 as does the fact that it was originally uncased. Thus the dating of c. 1870.
