Original albumen carte-de-visite (CDV) portrait photograph of Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), British statesman and author of Jewish ancestry, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and later Earl of Beaconsfield. Photographed by the celebrated British photographic studio W. & D. Downey, photographers to the British Royal Family. The photographers’ name and “COPYRIGHT” appear on the mount, with the elaborate W. & D. Downey studio backmark on the reverse. An old pencil inscription on the reverse reads “Disraeli Augt 24 1870.” The National Portrait Gallery, London, holds several albumen cartes-de-visite of Disraeli by W. & D. Downey from the same photographic series, dated 1868.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art