A period albumen Carte-de-Visite (CDV) portrait of Princess Alice (1843–1878), daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Princess is shown in a full-length portrait, standing in a garden or conservatory-style setting surrounded by foliage and flowers. She wears an elaborate dark, full-skirted Victorian dress decorated with bands and pleating and holds an open book in her hands. The photograph dates approximately to c. 1865, when Alice was in her early twenties and already married to Prince Louis of Hesse, later Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse. An old manuscript identification on the reverse reads: “Princess Alice.” Princess Alice was one of Queen Victoria's most notable daughters and became particularly associated with nursing and charitable work, personally caring for wounded soldiers during the Austro-Prussian War. Her historical significance extends directly into the final chapter of Imperial Russia. Her daughter, Princess Alix of Hesse, married Tsar Nicholas II and became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress of Russia. Alice's life ended tragically in 1878, when diphtheria swept through her family. After personally nursing her sick children, she contracted the disease and died aged only 35. She was the first of Queen Victoria's children to die, passing away on 14 December – exactly the seventeenth anniversary of the death of her father, Prince Albert. An attractive early piece of Victorian royal photography combining an albumen portrait of Queen Victoria's daughter, the classic CDV format, an elegant full-length composition with book and foliage, and a direct dynastic connection to the last Imperial family of Russia.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art