A real antique and the oldest item we have in our store at present. Until this year Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch, from 1837-1901, of Great Britain. This real photographic portrait of Queen Victoria possibly dates from her Golden Jubilee in 1887. This monochrome image, depicts her sitting at a table while in reflective mood probably thinking of her beloved Albert. She can be seen wearing a black mourning dress, on her wrist is a bracelet with a miniature portrait of Prince Albert. Considering it's great age the photograph has survived reasonably well. Originally the photograph would have been mounted on a large thick piece of cardboard and possibly framed and would have hung in many a house around the country and indeed throughout the Empire. At some stage this item has been removed from any frame and has been roughly cropped down to the size of the photograph. The surface of the image has begun to come away from the underlying photographic paper leaving white flecks which although noticeable and does detract from the image somewhat, it doesn't stop that excitement of holding a real piece of Victoriana. A nice item for a collector of Royal memorabilia or student Victorian history, as an item in a display or themed room or even as a classroom resource giving children that "buzz" of holding a real artefact of the age.

Date: c.1880-1890
Maker: Unknown
Made in England

Dimensions: 20cm x 28cm