Richard Hartshorne
Periodca. 1860 - 1865
MediumAmbrotype, thermoplastic union case
DimensionsImage: 3.5 × 2.5 in. (8.9 × 6.4 cm)
Case: 5 × 4 × 0.75 in. (12.7 × 10.2 × 1.9 cm)
Case: 5 × 4 × 0.75 in. (12.7 × 10.2 × 1.9 cm)
InscribedPenciled inscription on a scrap of paper pinned to the inside of the case lining reads "Richard Hartshorne / copy only."
ClassificationsDaguerreotypes and Ambrotypes
Credit LineGift of Mary Minturn Adams in memory of her Hartshorne Ancestors, 2018
Object number2018.10.16
DescriptionRichard Hartshorne poses in 3/4 view facing the left. He wears his light or graying hair combed up and back from his forehead and curled above his ears. White shirt points end just below his jaw above a black scarf tie with what appears to be a small stick pin in the center. Richard wears a light colored vest and a light colored coat with a dark or black velvet collar. The image case includes gold frame with patriotic shield and star emblems and a feathered crest motif impressed on the maroon velvet lining. The case exterior features a scene of a mid-eighteenth century rider greeting a trio of people with a dog and horse.Curatorial RemarksOften identified as gutta percha, the dark material comprising this ambrotype's case is in fact made of sawdust and varnish, an early thermoplastic introduced in about 1856. Photographic covers made from this material were known as "union cases," referring to the combination, or union, of the various materials to create the composite. Although popular, union cases did not replace or surpass the traditional leather cases. Union cases were both expensive and brittle and tended to crack or break easily. Interestingly enough, the golden colored pressed metal mat around Richard Hartshorne's image does include patriotic Union shield motifs in each of the four corners.NotesThis ambrotype image depicts Richard Thomas Hartshorne (1803 - 1888), son of Thomas Hartshorne and Sarah Biles. This family lived at Portland Place. Richard went to sea at the age of eighteen. He later resided on Staten Island, where he was known as a sea captain. He and his wife, Catherine Jenkins, were interred in the Hartshorne Burying Ground on Kings Highway in Middletown Village. Richard was about sixty when he sat for his photographic image. The unknown photographer warmed Richard's weather beaten features by tinting his cheeks a pale pink.
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