A period albumen Carte-de-Visite (CDV) portrait of Princess Louise (1848–1939), daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The young Princess is shown in an elegant full-length studio portrait, wearing an elaborate full-skirted Victorian dress and hat, standing beside studio furniture draped with a richly patterned textile and holding a white muff-like accessory. Printed beneath the image is the contemporary identification: “PRINCESS LOUISE” together with: “HILLS & SAUNDERS – REGISTERED.” The reverse bears the elaborate photographer's backmark of Hills & Saunders, Eton & Oxford, identifying the firm as photographers to Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, accompanied by royal devices. At the foot appears: “Published (wholesale only) by Messrs. A. Marion, Son & Co., 23 Soho Square.” The portrait can be dated to approximately 1864, when Princess Louise was about sixteen years old. Louise became one of the more artistically accomplished and independent members of Queen Victoria's family. She studied art and sculpture and became an accomplished sculptor in her own right, an unusual achievement for a royal woman in Victorian Britain. In 1871 she married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, later Duke of Argyll. An attractive original example of Victorian royal photography combining a youthful portrait of Queen Victoria's daughter, an albumen photograph, the classic CDV format, Victorian costume and an elaborate royal Hills & Saunders photographer's backmark.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art