Portrait of Elizabeth Morris Canby [later, Mrs. Charles Grubb Rumford] (1848-1936)

DateProbably 1860-1862

MediumAmbrotype photographic image in a leather, velvet-lined case

DimensionsSight of image: 2 x 1 1/2in. (5.1 x 3.8cm) and Closed case: 2 7/8 x 2 3/8 x 5/8in. (2 7/8 x 2 3/8in.) and Open case: 4 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 1/2in. (12.1 x 7.3 x 1.3cm)

Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford

Object number1985.510.1

DescriptionAn ambrotype image of a young woman seated in a chair, her proper right arm resting on two books on the table beside her, her hands slightly clasped near her waist. Her dark hair is parted in the center, and braids appear to either side of her head, caught up at the back of her head. She wears a dark checked dress with a scalloped white collar, with a brooch in the center; a bracelet on either wrist. The caser is stamped leather, velvet-lined, and a stamped brass foil mat holds the image behind glass within the case; a hook secures the case shut at the side.

Photographer unidentified.
Label TextSeveral different types of photographic images were popular during the nineteenth century. This particular example is known as an ambrotype, meaning a wet collodion negative on glass, with a piece of dark fabric behind it to enhance viewing of the image. In contrast, a tintype (or ferrotype or melainotype) is a direct positive image on a sensitized iron base, and a daguerreotype is made on a silver-plated copper base.

The case that holds this image is typical for the period but is a type that more often enclosed daguerreotypes. Similar leather or composition cases held different types of images and frequently were interchanged.

Elizabeth Morris Canby was photographed about 1862, several years before she married Charles Grubb Rumford in 1875. She was born to Samuel and Elizabeth Clifford Morris Canby of Wilmington, Delaware. This image of her is nearly identical to another (2009-168), whose case liner is marked as the work of Joseph Jeunes, a Wilmington photographer.
MarkingsA typewritten label within the case states, "L. M. Canby."
ProvenanceDescended in the family of the sitter. See 1981.1200.2 for additional genealogical information and for other photographic images of the same sitter.