Item #115315 Four small vintage portrait photographs of Queen Victoria, her husband Albert, Prince Consort, and two of their sons, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, in London in 1860. British Royalty, John Jabez MAYALL.
Four small vintage portrait photographs of Queen Victoria, her husband Albert, Prince Consort, and two of their sons, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, in London in 1860
[British Royalty]. MAYALL, John Jabez

Four small vintage portrait photographs of Queen Victoria, her husband Albert, Prince Consort, and two of their sons, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, in London in 1860

Approximately 50 × 30 mm, tiny corner tips snipped off before being mounted on a sheet of light blue paper (230 × 185 mm, removed from an album). All four have captions in ink written below them (Albert is 'Prince Concert'); they are evenly mounted on the page around a photograph (33 × 46 mm) of an engraving of the 'Great Exhibition, 1862'.

The paper is lightly marked, with a short closed tear near the top left-hand corner; the photographs are in excellent condition.

The following paragraph appeared in 'The Photographic News' (Volume IV, Number 104, 31 August 1860, page 215, sourced from 'The Athenaeum'): 'Photography At The Palace. Mr Mayall has put together, in a "Royal Album", the series of royal photographic portraits made by him from time to time at Buckingham Palace. These exquisite studies from the real life are fourteen in number: one of the Queen and Prince Consort, one of the Queen and Princess Beatrice, one of the Queen alone, one of the Prince alone, one of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alice, one of the Prince of Wales, one of Princess Alice, one of Prince Alfred, one of the Princesses Helena and Louisa, one of Princess Helena alone, one of Princess Louisa alone, one of Princes Arthur and Leopold, one of Prince Arthur alone, and one of Princess Beatrice; each study reproducing, with a homely truth, far more precious to the historian than any effort of a nattering court artist, the lineaments of the royal race. The Album reflects the highest credit on Mr Mayall' (Luminous-Lint website).

We have not ascertained whether any or all of these four images appeared in the album, but the portrait of the Queen is definitely by Mayall, and he certainly took a photograph of Prince Alfred in an identical suit (with the same telescope as a prop).

Item #115315

Price (AUD): $550.00