An unusual period Carte-de-Visite (CDV) photograph headed “ROYAL AUTOGRAPHS, ” displaying a montage of approximately 32 photographed signatures of nineteenth-century royal and distinguished personalities. The signatures are arranged in a broadly hierarchical composition, headed by Queen Victoria, followed by members of the British Royal Family. Among the personalities represented are Queen Victoria; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales; Alexandra, Princess of Wales; Victoria, Princess Royal; Princess Alice; Princess Helena; Princess Louise; Prince Arthur; Prince Leopold, together with various European royals and other distinguished figures. According to the accompanying earlier description, the montage also includes Princess Dagmar and Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, while other personalities represented include Lord Granville and the Duke of Argyll. The composition forms a fascinating photographic gallery of royal and aristocratic autographs from the Victorian world, produced in the highly collectible Carte-de-Visite format. An unusual piece of Victorian photographic and royal ephemera, bringing together Queen Victoria, numerous members of her family, European royalty and other notable nineteenth-century personalities in a single photographic autograph montage.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art