Samuel Root (1820-1889)

PORTRAIT OF THE BRITISH MINISTER TO THE U.S.A; MR J.F CRAMPTON, c.1854, slightly undersized whole plate daguerreotype (6 1/2" x 7 1/2"), with floral gilt mat and oval aperture, with photographers stamp in mat recto and Broadway address, housed in a plush-lined, maroon leather case, embossed with a floral design.

Lord Elgin visited Washington in 1854 for the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty and it is most likely that this daguerreotype of a fellow representative of the British Government was acquired on that trip.

Provenance: From the Collection of the 8th & 9th Earls of Elgin, Sotheby's 7 May 1998 (Lot 4)