Mammoth Three Grove Hotel Calaveras Co Cal.
ca. 1878
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 12.5 x 12.5 cm (4 15/16 x 4 15/16 in.), circular Album page: 24 x 25.1 cm (9 7/16 x 9 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.556 (14)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, E. Watkins, one of America's pioneering landscape photographers, immortalized the majestic giant sequoias of California'saveras County in this circa 1878 albumen print, titled *Mammoth Three Grove Hotel Calas Co Cal*. The circular image, measuring just 12.5 x 12.5 cm, centers on the colossal "Mammoth Tree" near the Three Grove Hotel—a popular tourist stop amid the ancient forests. Watkins' work captured the public's fascination with these living giants, which could exceed 3,000 years in age and dwarf human structures, turning remote wilderness into national icons. Pr...
About the Artist
Carleton E. Watkins · 1829–1916
Carleton E. Watkins (1829–1916), one of America's pioneering landscape photographers, was born on November 11, 1829, in Oneonta, New York, the eldest of eight children to carpenter John Watkins and innkeeper Julia. Drawn by the Gold Rush, he arrived in San Francisco in 1851 at age 22 alongside childhood friend Collis Huntington, who later became a railroad tycoon. Initially working as a carpenter ...