A Pre Civil War pair of antique late 1850s ambrotypes, or collodion positives, photographic print on glass plaque. A couple of portraits of wealthy women from the Old West Frontier. Both female portraits showed fashion characteristics and accessories from the conservative communities in the USA around the mid of the 19th Century. The use of bonnets like those noticeable on these images are a direct reflection of the high status and moral standards for a widow. The ambrotype is a positive photograph on glass made by a variant of the wet plate collodion process. Like a print on paper, it is viewed by reflected light. Like the daguerreotype, which it replaced, each glass plaque is a unique original that could only be duplicated by using a camera to copy it. Antique American Photographs For Collectors.