An important and rare royal Carte-de-Visite (CDV) photograph dating from 1863, by the celebrated Scottish photographer George Washington Wilson (1823–1893), depicting Queen Victoria (1819–1901) mounted on her pony Fyvie at Balmoral. Standing at left is John Brown (1826–1883), the Queen’s trusted Highland attendant and close confidant, holding the pony’s bridle. At right stands John Grant, Head Forester at Balmoral. The present example therefore preserves the composition including all three figures – Queen Victoria, John Brown and John Grant – rather than the cropped versions in which Grant is absent. The British Museum records the same image under the title “The Queen – Balmoral, 1863,” explicitly identifying Queen Victoria and John Brown. Other documented examples in the Aberdeen collections confirm the composition and its date of 1863. The original wider photographic composition, as represented here, also includes John Grant, Head Forester, standing to the right. In some commercially issued carte-de-visite versions, Grant was cropped from the image, concentrating the composition upon Victoria and Brown. The present example is therefore particularly interesting in retaining the complete three-figure composition. Queen Victoria is portrayed in black mourning dress, approximately two years after the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert. Beside her stands John Brown, who became one of the people closest to the Queen during the long years of her widowhood. The unusually close relationship between Queen Victoria and John Brown generated widespread contemporary rumours of a romantic attachment, to the extent that the Queen was sometimes mockingly referred to by her critics as “Mrs Brown.” The precise nature of their relationship remains a matter of historical debate, and there is no conclusive evidence establishing that they had a romantic relationship. Nevertheless, photographs of Victoria and Brown together became among the images most strongly associated with their remarkable and controversial relationship. The reverse bears the backmark of the American publisher: E. & H.T. Anthony 501 Broadway, New York together with an old pencil inscription: “The Queen Balmoral 1863” and an affixed period U.S. revenue stamp. An especially interesting piece of Victorian royal photographic history combining Queen Victoria, John Brown, John Grant, Balmoral, the Queen’s pony Fyvie, photography by George Washington Wilson, the precise date 1863, and the fascinating personal history surrounding Victoria’s much-discussed relationship with Brown.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art