A period royal Carte-de-Visite (CDV) portrait of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), by the celebrated photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813–1901). The royal couple are portrayed together in a studio composition: Prince Albert stands at left wearing a long coat and top hat and holding a cane, while Queen Victoria stands facing him in an elaborate full-skirted Victorian dress. The mount is captioned: “THE QUEEN & PRINCE CONSORT.” and the photographic image itself bears: “MAYALL FECIT. MARCH 1st 1861.” The precise date gives the photograph particular historical resonance. It was produced in 1861, the final year of Prince Albert's life, only months before his death on 14 December. His death initiated Queen Victoria's prolonged period of mourning and profoundly changed her public image. The present portrait therefore belongs to the final period of photographic portraits of Victoria and Albert together during the Prince Consort's lifetime. The reverse bears Mayall's studio mark: “PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE BY MAYALL 224, REGENT STREET, LONDON.” The wording “Photographed from Life” is noteworthy, explicitly associating the image with a photographic sitting rather than a reproduction after a painted portrait. An attractive and historically evocative royal CDV combining Queen Victoria and Prince Albert together, the precise date 1 March 1861 – the final year of Albert's life – and the full identification of Mayall's celebrated Regent Street studio.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art