Cows at the Watering Place (Vaches a l'abreuvoir)

In 1839, three British engravers presented the cliché-verre, or glass print, method of photography to the Royal Society. The cliché-verre is a combination of handwork and photography involving a glass plate. The plate is rendered opaque by applying a thin coating of etching ground, which is then smoked. Artists then incise a scene onto the opaque glass plate to create a hand-drawn negative, which is exposed against light-sensitive paper to make a positive print. The cliché-verre was briefly popular in the 1850s and 1860s among artists associated with the French Barbizon School, including French painter Charles-François Daubigny.