Albumen paper print ( 1850 - 1900)

Was a photograph made using albumen paper, popular for photographic printing between 1850 and 1900. Thin paper was coated with a layer of egg-white (albumen) containing salt and sensitised with a silver nitrate solution, then printed using daylight under a negative. The resulting paper had a smooth surface with a fine sheen. Albumen prints could be toned with a gold solution which gave a rich purplish-brown colour to the image and reduced the risk of fading. During the mid c.19th.