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The Fisherman

Artist William C. North (American, 1814 - 1890)
Dateca. 1850
MediumDaguerreotype
DimensionsPlate (half): 5 1/2 × 4 1/4 inches (13.97 × 10.8 cm)
Case (open): 6 × 9 1/2 × 3/8 inches (15.24 × 24.13 × 0.95 cm)
Case (closed): 6 × 4 3/4 × 11/16 inches (15.24 × 12.07 × 1.75 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.34
SignedEmbossed on velvet liner: "North / Artist / Cleveland"
Inscribednone
Markingsnone
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionImage of bearded man with a satchel draped across his chest as he holds a fishing pole in his left hand. This half plate daguerreotype is housed in an oval brass mat inside of a full leather case with a red velvet liner marked: "North / Artist / Cleveland".Gallery Label
This subject, an unidentified fisherman, depicts a mid-1800s American character: the gentleman-outdoorsman. This piece might have been made for a display gallery in William C. North's studio to impress clientele. The subject's artistic pose and lighting, as well as the size of the daguerreotype, would have demonstrated the studio's technical and artistic expertise.
Published References

Theodatus Garlick, A Treatise on the Artificial Propagation of Certain Kinds of Fish (Cleveland: Thomas Brown, 1857);

Mary Sayre Haverstock, Jeannette Mahoney Vance, and Brian L. Meggitt, eds., Artists in Ohio, 1797-1900: A Biographical Dictionary (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, ca. 2000): 325-26;

Maurice Joblin, Cleveland Past and Present; Its Representative Men (Cleveland: Fairbanks, Benedict, & Co., 1869): 375-78.

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