PHYSIONOTRACE Lot n° 83

Cuivre avec portrait d'un homme (ca. 1810) Copper plate with a rare physionotraces of an engraved profile portrait was made with the use of the light of a lamp, which cast the profile of a sitter onto a glass plate, from where it was copied by a mechanical engraving apparatus onto a copper plate. Because of their realism, physionotraces are seen as precursors of photographs 'Dessiné et gravé par Quenedey, Rue Croix de petits Champs 10 à Paris'. Plaque en cuivre (7.5 x 6.5 cm)