A relatively scarce early royal albumen Carte-de-Visite (CDV) family portrait depicting Princess Alice (1843–1878), daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, with her husband Prince Louis of Hesse, later Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and by Rhine, and their first two daughters. Photographed by the royal studio Hills & Saunders, Eton & Oxford. The contemporary printed caption beneath the photograph reads: “T.R.H. PRINCE & PRINCESS LOUIS OF HESSE WITH THEIR CHILDREN.” Prince Louis is shown standing behind Princess Alice, who is seated with their two young daughters. According to the old manuscript date on the reverse, 25 September 1866, the children can be identified as Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (1863–1950) and Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918). Princess Elisabeth, affectionately known as “Ella, ” later married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. Following his assassination she became a prominent religious and charitable figure in Russia and was murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The family also had another major dynastic connection with Imperial Russia: Alice and Louis's younger daughter Princess Alix of Hesse, born several years after this photograph was taken, married Tsar Nicholas II and became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress of Russia. The reverse bears the elaborate royal backmark of Hills & Saunders, Eton & Oxford, identifying the firm as photographers to Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, together with the publisher's imprint of A. Marion, Son & Co., 23 Soho Square, London. An old manuscript inscription at the top records the date “Sep. 25th 66.” An appealing and historically significant early royal family photograph combining Queen Victoria's daughter, her husband and their first two daughters – including Princess Elisabeth “Ella” – with important later dynastic connections to Imperial Russia and the Romanov family.
Auction 01: Auction 01 – Historical Letters, Documents & Autographs — Melis Antiques & Art