A relatively scarce period albumen Carte-de-Visite (CDV) portrait of Princess Helena Augusta Victoria (1846–1923), daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The young Princess is shown in Brussels in a full-length seated studio portrait, wearing an elaborate full-skirted Victorian dress and posed beside studio furniture supporting a large decorative vase. Beneath the photograph appears the studio credit: “Ghémar Frères, Photographes du Roi, Bruxelles” together with an old manuscript identification: “Princess Helena.” The photograph was produced by Ghémar Frères, an important Brussels photographic studio bearing the prestigious designation “Photographes du Roi” – Photographers to the King, as recorded on both the front and reverse of the card. The reverse carries the studio imprint: “ATELIER DE PHOTOGRAPHIE – GHÉMAR FRÈRES – PHOTOGRAPHES DU ROI – 27, rue de l'Écuyer – BRUXELLES.” At the foot appears the London distribution imprint: “Published (Wholesale only) by A. Marion, Son & Co., 23, Soho Square, London.” The portrait dates approximately to c. 1862–1865, when Princess Helena was still young and unmarried. She married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein in 1866. The Belgian origin is particularly interesting in the context of the close dynastic relationship between the British and Belgian royal families. Queen Victoria's uncle Leopold I, King of the Belgians, was the brother of her mother and also the brother of Prince Albert's father. An attractive and relatively scarce piece of Victorian royal photography combining an early portrait of Queen Victoria's daughter, the albumen CDV format, a Belgian royal photographic studio, contemporary identification of the sitter and London distribution by A. Marion, Son & Co.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art