Skip to main content
Cyanotype
Cyanotype
Cyanotype

Cyanotype

Object NameCyanotype
MediumCyanotype
Dimensions7 × 15 in. (17.8 × 38.1 cm)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineGift of Mary Barton. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object number75.10.4
Status
Not on view
Collections
Label TextThe Cyanotype process was first introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The Cyanotype method generally involves coating paper or other absorbent material like fabric with a mixture of iron salt and potassium ferricyanide; placing a flat item of interest like a fern frond or cut letters on top of the paper and holding it in place under a piece of glass; exposing the entire assembly to sunlight for several minutes; and then rinsing the paper with water once the item has been removed. The result is a negative image surrounded by a bright Prussian blue or cyan color. Cyanotype is considered a photography method and experienced a non-professional spike in “folk art” created in the home by women with examples on quilts, pillowcases, and framed like this example.
Locations
  • (not entered)  Iowa State University, Farm House Museum
Stereograph
Object Name: Stereograph
Object number: 80.7.2n
Faith and Character
Object Name: Book
Newell Dwight Hillis
1902
Object number: 86.10.8
Object Name: Photograph
1912
Object number: 77.41.38
Double Nine Nubian Dominoes
Object Name: Dominoes set with box
Embossing Company
c. 1900
Object number: 78.16.13a-fff
Farm House and Knapp Family
Object Name: Photograph
1885
Object number: 76.43.1
Photograph
Object Name: Photograph
Excelsior View Company
Object number: 77.4.6
Gold Star Hall Stained Glass Windows
Object Name: Architectural Ornamentation
Harold W. Cummings
Object number: U2011.183a-l
Object Name: Postcard
Object number: 76.27.26
Object Name: Postcard
Object number: 76.27.25
Object Name: Postcard
Object number: 76.27.24
Object Name: Postcard
Object number: 76.27.23
Object Name: Postcard
Object number: 76.27.22