9.00 USD
We have a terrible weakness for the silvering that occurs on old photo images, we admit it! There is something so magical about the effect. Plain and simply, it is just another result of aging. The light-sensitive metallic salts (typically silver bromide, hence the term "silvering," although other metallic salts were often included) used in the most common processes of photo printing are submerged in a thin, gelatinous surface layer on the photo printing paper.
Over the hundred years or so since this card was printed, tiny bits of magical, light-sensitive goodness migrated to the surface of that layer, and interacted chemically with the oxygen in air. Et voila! Silvering! Beautiful, beautiful atmospheric aura :)
We hope the scientists among you will forgive what is probably a vast oversimplification (to say nothing of our romanticizing) of this process :) Of course, "dramatic" silvering, as in the case of this card, is unusual. A little is not untypical, but this much is probably the result of a flaw in the printing process, and possibly the environment in which the image was stored (in the same way that copper goes green more quickly in some environments), but there were also some printing processes that lent themselves particularly well to later silvering. The biogravure, a process employed by N.P.G. in Berlin, was one of these that we always look for. At the time, the printer would have had no idea, of course, what chemical changes would occur on their work's surface over a hundred years, so the end result is, to some degree, removed from human interference, and it is as if Nature, herself, applied the last finishing touches.
Rotophot was a Berlin based printer and card publisher established in around 1900. The "Roto" in their name refers to the rotary printing process that made use of long rolls of printing paper, gradually unfurled, and exposed to light through the negative plate. This method, though invented and patented in America, was brought back to Germany by one of its developers, Arthur Schwartz, later of NPG, was further developed there, and as an early form of photographic mass production, was of key importance in making Germany the industrial center of the postcard printing industry.
On the reverse, you can see a very mystical looking symbol in the card's stamp box: a triangle, with what looks like a sun blazing at its center, surrounded by the letters N,B, and C. These stand for the Neue Bromsilber Convention, or "New Silver Bromide Convention." Established in 1909, the NBC was an organization of photographic postcard printers and publishers whose purpose was to maintain control over costs and pricing in order to limit negative competitive practices (and probably, like most cartels, to edge out the little guy). Incidentally, the NBC would later have as its president, none other than Heinrich Ross, who was the driving force behind Rotophot, the publisher of this postcard.
A lovely card, in very nice condition. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for fully insured, first class, shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!