In 1851, Frederick Scoff Archer, an English sculptor, invented the wet plate. Using a viscous solution of collodion, he coated glass with light-sensitive silver salts. Because it was glass and not paper, this wet plate created a more stable and detailed negative.
Glass Negatives & The Collodion Wet Plate
1851 - 1880's
The glass negative was sharp and the prints made from it produced fine detail. The photographer could also produce several prints from one negative.
Glass Negatives: the Collodion Wet Plate
State Archives of FloridaWet Plate Photograph
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