Sixth plate ambrotype portrait of a young Rockefeller by William C. North.
Cleveland, c.1858. Hand-tinting to the cheeks, under an embossed gilt metal oval mat stamped “Wm. C. North / Cleveland, O.” Contained in a velvet-lined thermoplastic case, measuring 3 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches, 95x85 mm. Condition: Good condition, with minor speckling to the painted black areas; lacking the seal; one large and several minor chips to case edge. Provenance: Ezra Parmelee Prentice, 1863-1955 (portion of his business card laid in, with an ink inscription on verso identifying the image as a portrait of Rockefeller); Alta Rockefeller Prentice, 1871-1962; to her daughter, Mary Adeline Prentice Gilbert, 1907-1981, and her husband Benjamin Davis Gilbert, 1907-1992; the sister of the present owner. incredibly early portrait photograph of john d. rockefeller, sr. At the time of this portrait, Rockefeller was working as a bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle of Cleveland. He was shortly to leave and launch his phenomenally successful career, first as a partner in Clark & Rockefeller, merchants selling on commission. He would go on to revolutionize the petroleum industry, become the first American billionaire and be calculated the richest person in the history of the world. Yet, with his wealth he also set the standard for our most generous concepts of modern philanthropy. This image was reproduced as the frontispiece to Rockefeller's memoir, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909), with the caption “Mr. John D. Rockefeller at the age of eighteen.” The photographer, William C. North (1814-1890), appears regularly in Cleveland city directories from 1850 to 1859-60. The Rockefeller Archive Center holds a copy of this image on paper (presumably used to reproduce the frontispiece of Random Reminiscenses and explaining why the ambrotype was unsealed). We could not locate another example of a Rockefeller portrait from this early period ever appearing at auction. [WITH:] An Amherst College prize medal engraved by Tiffany & Co., the Second Sawyer Prize, awarded in 1882 to Ezra Parmelee Prentice; handed down in the same line of provenance as the photograph.
Sixth plate ambrotype portrait of a young Rockefeller by William C. North.
Cleveland, c.1858. Hand-tinting to the cheeks, under an embossed gilt metal oval mat stamped “Wm. C. North / Cleveland, O.” Contained in a velvet-lined thermoplastic case, measuring 3 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches, 95x85 mm. Condition: Good condition, with minor speckling to the painted black areas; lacking the seal; one large and several minor chips to case edge. Provenance: Ezra Parmelee Prentice, 1863-1955 (portion of his business card laid in, with an ink inscription on verso identifying the image as a portrait of Rockefeller); Alta Rockefeller Prentice, 1871-1962; to her daughter, Mary Adeline Prentice Gilbert, 1907-1981, and her husband Benjamin Davis Gilbert, 1907-1992; the sister of the present owner. incredibly early portrait photograph of john d. rockefeller, sr. At the time of this portrait, Rockefeller was working as a bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle of Cleveland. He was shortly to leave and launch his phenomenally successful career, first as a partner in Clark & Rockefeller, merchants selling on commission. He would go on to revolutionize the petroleum industry, become the first American billionaire and be calculated the richest person in the history of the world. Yet, with his wealth he also set the standard for our most generous concepts of modern philanthropy. This image was reproduced as the frontispiece to Rockefeller's memoir, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909), with the caption “Mr. John D. Rockefeller at the age of eighteen.” The photographer, William C. North (1814-1890), appears regularly in Cleveland city directories from 1850 to 1859-60. The Rockefeller Archive Center holds a copy of this image on paper (presumably used to reproduce the frontispiece of Random Reminiscenses and explaining why the ambrotype was unsealed). We could not locate another example of a Rockefeller portrait from this early period ever appearing at auction. [WITH:] An Amherst College prize medal engraved by Tiffany & Co., the Second Sawyer Prize, awarded in 1882 to Ezra Parmelee Prentice; handed down in the same line of provenance as the photograph.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
