cased photographs

n. A class of photographs common in the mid-19th century mounted in a shallow, hinged box.

Notes

Typically used for daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, although it is not uncommon to find later photographic processes put in cases that had formerly held earlier types of photographs. The case provided protection for fragile processes. The cases were often made of wood with a tooled leather, paper, or cloth cover, or from an early molded composite (see union case).