Ambrotype stereograph in stereoscope case depicting a three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified white man, standing. Sitter has dark hair, combed and parted to the left, and a beard. He is attired in white shirt with a turned-up collar, a white waistcoat, a dark-colored bowtie, a dark-colored jacket with tails, and light-colored pants. His cheeks are tinted pink. He stands with his right hand touching the top rail of a wooden chair in the left. His left arm is bent and his hand holds the edge of his open jacket at his waist. In the right, a straw hat with a patterned scarf hanging out of it, lies on a side table. The pictorial detail of the scarf is hand tinted pink., Title supplied by cataloger., Pink tinting on cheeks and scarf., Labeled on the stereoscope: “Macher’s Improved Stereoscope. Philada. Patent, March 8th 1853.” “Stereoscopic Ambrotype. Pictures, Surpassing any thing for Depth, Clearness, and Relief, which the Art has yet produced. Also Ambrotype & Mezzograph pictures taken at the Gallery of Photography by Isaac Rehn. No. 126 Arch Street, above Sixth, South side, Philadelphia., Mat: Oval. Engraved on metal plate, ”Ambrotype by Rehn 260 Chestnut St.” “Patented July 4 & 11, 1854.”, Case: Leather., Isaac Rehn is listed as a photographer in the Philadelphia directories from 1850 to-1861. Rehn has been credited with the first ambrotype in the United States.
Creator
Rehn, Isaac, photographer
Date
[ca. 1854]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – photographer – Rehn [P.2018.52]