c1850 Half-Plate Daguerreotype John C. & Sarah Rankin by Marcus Aureilus Root

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c1850 Half-Plate Daguerreotype John C. & Sarah Rankin by Marcus Aureilus Root:
$2749.99

c1850 Half-Plate Daguerreotype, John Chambers and Sarah Trimball Rankin by Marcus Aurelius Root, Philadelphia

Description

Marcus Aurelius Root, 140 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Title:

Grandpa and Grandma Rankin (Father and mother of Walter L. Rankin, Sr.)

Date:

c1850

Medium:

Half Plate Daguerreotype with decorative leather case

Size of Image:

5 1/2 x 4 1/8 inches

Size of Mount:

5 7/8 x 4 5/8 inches

Condition:

Medium to rich tonal image shows typical tarnishing at edges along brass mat, embossed decorative leather case has separated hinge and shows overall light rubbing, photographer’s velvet insert shows some wear and soiling.

Other:

Unique half-plate daguerreotype portrait of John Chambers Rankin and his wife Sarah Trimball Comfort Rankin around 1850 by Philadelphia artist and photographer Marcus A. Root. A fine example or Root’s ability to capture the touching relationship of this husband and wife. Identified by period label as “Grandpa and Grandma Rankin (Father and mother of Walter L. Rankin, Sr.). John Chambers Rankin was born in 1816 (Gilford County, North Carolina) and married Sarah Trimball Comfort (Kingston, New Jersey) in 1840. The Rankin’s sailed for India following their marriage performing missionary work for the Presbyterian church until 1848 when they returned to the United Stated for health reasons. He became minister of the Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 1851 remaining there until 1895. He died in 1900. Sarah Rankin died in 1867 and John Rankin remarried in 1870 to Mrs. N.C. Scales of Patrick County, Virginia. John and Sarah Rankin had five children: Walter Lowrie, Sarah Roy, Edward Payson and John Chambers, Jr., all born in India and James Comfort who was born in the US but died at age four.

Their son Walter L. Rankin went on to become the second President of Carroll College (now Carroll University), Waukesha, Wisconsin from 1866 until 1904.

Marcus Aurelius Root (1808-1888) was one of the most distinguished daguerreotypists of his day and one of the earliest historians of photography. He learned his photographic skills from Robert Cornelius and by 1843 was proficient at the craft partnering in studios in Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; and St. Louis, Missouri from 1844-1845. He returned to Philadelphia in 1846 to purchase the studio and gallery of John Jabez Edwin Mayal at 140 Chestnut street, already one of the most prestigious concerns of its day. He partnered with his brother Samuel opening another studio in New York City in 1849 selling out to him in 1851. Root participated in many of the early fairs and salons both domestically and internationally expanding his reputation through awards and written appreciation. He was injured in a railroad accident in 1856 which took him out of the photographic studio business at which time he began to compile his seminal book, Camera and Pencil which addressed the practice and theory of photography at the time. His grand finale in the photographic circles was to assemble a survey of the history of photography from 1839-1876 for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition most of which is held in the Library of Congress photographic archives.

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