The first scientific investigation of Niépce’s images from UK and US collections: image substrate

Abstract

This paper reports the results of the first ever scientific investigation of the image substrate of the plates Joseph Nicéphore Niépce brought with him to England in 1827. The First Photograph, in the collection of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin, and the three plates, in The Royal Photographic Society collection of the National Media Museum, were thoroughly documented and analysed using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The XRF analysis was able to objectively confirm the chemical composition of all four plates and to identify unique characteristics of the material in some of the plates. Our investigation, for the first time, was also able to provide strong evidence attributing at least one of the plates to a particular pewtersmith based on the presence of a touchmark on the back of one of the plates.

Keywords:

• Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
• early history photography
• pewter
• photographic plates
• X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
• non-destructive analysis
• conservation science

The authors would like to thank the large GCI, HRC and NMeM project teams for their exhaustive work, research and other contributions to this project. We would also like to thank HRC director Tom Staley, NMeM director Colin Philpott and GCI director Tim Whalen for their passionate support of both research projects and RPS President Rosemary Wilman and the RPS Council for their support of the ‘Niépce in England’ symposium. Additional thanks goes to Angus Patterson, curator of prints and drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose help in identifying the touchmark was invaluable.