ROSE Fine Art Silver Wet Plate Collodion Ambrotype Pendant, Photographed on Domed Glass in Custom Handmade Sterling Setting w/ Sterling Silver Chain

I've hummed and hayed about listing this beautiful delicate rose ambrotype pendant. The setting is a kind of freeform, ‘lets see where the metal takes me’ effort. Eye-catching and perfectly imperfect with a real organic feel.

I captured the single rose on the underside of domed glass using the wet plate collodion process. The setting is all 925 Sterling Silver, including the 18" chain. The total piece measures just shy of 2" high x 1.2" wide (50mm x 30mm). The pendant has been lightly oxidized. I am a self-taught/still learning silversmith and this piece taught me a lot of patience and perseverance It is made entirely from scratch, using Sheet Sterling Silver and Sterling Silver Wire. I like to recycle any unused silver when making a piece, so I've added a small rose leaves and flowers made from leftovers from the backplate.

I've been working on the wet plate collodion process (aka 'tintype') for the best part of 2023. Coming from a 20 year + background in portrait photography, all modern and digital, but with a hankering for some of the filmic qualities of photography that I learned in my younger days, I was looking for something more organic. I found working with this process yielded such incredibly ethereal images, I knew I was onto something special and unique! Requiring epic proportions of tenacity and courage, the process involves equipment and techniques that are centuries old. From wet plate chemistry to ancient lenses and cameras, you'd be mistaken for wandering into a time slip if you observed me create these images. Luckily, you can own a piece of this historic process, without having to mess with any of the plethora of chemicals needed to make such a gem. I'll do the brown stained hands, sweat under a dark cloth in the Texas sun, clean glass domes until they squeak, and pass on to you the joy of wearable art that is truly one-of-a-kind.

This wears beautifully and will draw lots of compliments. The silver particles in the image catch the light depending on angle of view. It has a three-dimensional, shimmering quality that is hard to capture in a 2D image. The wet collodion process is variable and tiny inclusions such as streaks, bubbles, specks and oysters appear when developed. This image has some of those qualities, making it entirely unique, never to be repeated.