Patented by the French photographer André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (1819-1889) in 1854, the carte-de-visite was a photographic “visiting card” measuring around 4 x 2-1/2 inches. It was made by using a glass plate negative with a camera that had multiple lenses, usually four or eight.
Beato’s cartes feature the same subjects that are seen in his large-format photographs: women dressed up in kimonos, family groups, yakunin (officers), doctors, barbers, betto (tattooed grooms), and the like. They are mostly posed in the studio, and many have painted backgrounds.
Above, top: Carte-de-visite camera, about 1870.
Photo credit: http://johnsrolleionlypage.homestead.com/historicallyimportantcameras.html
Above, bottom: A rare Beato Cartes-de-Visite album, about 1863-66.