Quarter Plate Ambrotype of an Unidentified Man, c. 1855-56
- Quarter plate ambrotype measuring 3 ¼ x 4 ¼ inches, with Vance’s embossed identification to mat, housed in a black thermopla
- California , 1855
California, 1855. Quarter plate ambrotype measuring 3 ¼ x 4 ¼ inches, with Vance’s embossed identification to mat, housed in a black thermoplastic case. Case split at both hinges, image fine. Very Good. Robert Vance was one of the first photographers to document California’s gold rush, taking over three hundred images of California that were shown in 1851 in New York (and since lost). He operated a studio in San Francisco at Sacramento and Montgomery Street. This image, of an unidentified subject in formal dress, was likely taken in 1855-1856, when Vance began taking ambrotype portraits.