What does ferrotype mean?
A ferrotype is a photograph made directly on a thin sheet of iron that has been blackened or coated with dark lacquer and treated with a light-sensitive emulsion. The resulting image is a unique positive — no negative or print is involved — and because iron plates were cheap and quick to process, ferrotypes became one of the most widely accessible forms of photography in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, particularly in America. They are better known to most people as tintypes, though that name is a misnomer, as the plates were iron rather than tin. Ferrotypes were staples of itinerant and fairground photography, capturing soldiers, families, and working people who could not afford costlier daguerreotypes. Today the word survives mainly in photographic history, museum collections, and among collectors, where ferrotype portraits are valued as vivid, remarkably durable records of everyday life in the Victorian era.
nounA photograph made on a thin sheet of iron (usually blackened or japanned) coated with light-sensitive emulsion; also, the process of producing such photographs.
- A photograph produced on a thin sheet of blackened or lacquered iron coated with photographic emulsion, popular especially in the mid-to-late 19th century and commonly called a tintype.
- The photographic process by which such images are made.
"Among her great-grandmother's belongings she found a ferrotype of a young soldier in Civil War uniform."
"The street photographer sold passersby ferrotype portraits for a few cents each."
"Collectors prize the ferrotype for its durability — many have survived more than a century and a half without fading."
Standard plural; used when referring to multiple photographs or examples of the process.
"The archive holds dozens of ferrotypes from the American Civil War era."
The 'tin type' was actually never tin at all — ferrotypes were shot on sheets of iron, making them the affordable snapshots that put photography into the hands of ordinary 19th-century Americans.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ferrotype
The word ferrotype combines the Latin root 'ferrum', meaning iron, with the Greek 'typos', meaning impression or mark — a fitting name for images pressed onto iron plates. It follows the naming pattern of earlier photographic processes such as the daguerreotype, named after Louis Daguerre. The related term 'tintype' arose later, mistakenly suggesting the plates were made of tin. English words sharing the same roots include 'ferrous' and 'ferroconcrete' from the Latin, and 'typography' and 'typical' from the Greek.
How ferrotype is actually used
The term is largely historical and technical today, used mainly in discussions of photographic history and collecting. In everyday American usage the word 'tintype' is far more common, even though it is technically a misnomer since the plates were iron, not tin.
Easily confused with ferrotype
A daguerreotype is an image on a silver-coated copper plate that appears positive or negative depending on viewing angle, whereas a ferrotype is a cheaper image on an iron plate.