Help dating Victorian photo, please

[LilyS]

Hi, can anyone please help date this Victorian photo? It belongs to a friend who says it's been in his family since at least the 1940s. He says "[it has an] almost 3D type effect. I will need to study it but there are I think two plates, one behind the other. The plate at the front has the image - albeit you can see through it to the plate behind. I cannot recall if the back plate also has an image on it. In my opinion the image is sharp" Thanks in advance.

 

[Vinclothes]

I think you have a tintype, although it could be a daguerrotype, both early forms of photography. More information here:
www.cycleback.com/photoguide/dags.html
A museum may be able to help you.
Marian

 

[Joji Furukawa]

I love that she's smiling! Usually in old photos nobody smiles, but hers is so warm.

 

[amandainvermont]

Yes, that smile and looking happy and content is very unusual. I wonder what she had around her neck. And the hands are great as well.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

That certainly is a great antique photograph, and her smile is wonderful. This may be difficult to date through her costume alone, as she is an older or elderly woman. As you may know, in Victorian times older women would often dress in clothing that was not current to the modes of the times, so her dress and bonnet are likely to be styles from a previous decade. Her bonnet, (or headdress) from what little I can see, looks late 1850s - 1860s in style. I love the way they have highlighted her jewelry in gold leaf or gold paint. She looks so happy and so proud!

 

[foofoogal]

I also love how she is smiling. What struck me first.
Hardly ever see that. She does look so happy and so proud.
Love genealogy and do it quite a bit.
She also looks French like some in my family line.