Oliver François Xavier Sarony

Oliver François Xavier Sarony, by Oliver François Xavier Sarony, late 1850s -NPG P613 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Oliver François Xavier Sarony

by Oliver François Xavier Sarony
Albumen print, late 1850s
6 1/8 in. x 4 7/8 in. (156 mm x 124 mm) oval
NPG P613

Inscriptionback to top

On card mount inscr. in pencil: ‘Oliver Sarony’.

This portraitback to top

This photograph accords with Sarony’s appearance in a carte-de-visite with the Scarborough studio stamp in use from 1857 (see 'All known portraits, Self-portraits’) and is therefore similarly dated to the late 1850s. It would put him close to forty years of age. In both images he wears a similar double-breasted coat, here with his left hand tucked under the lapel in a Napoleonic gesture.

Sarony’s iconography is slight – only two other photographic likenesses are known. As the proprietor of a portrait studio he no doubt had cartes made to promote himself and his business. Sarony & Co. employed a large number of photographers and presumably this and a later image held by the County Library in Scarborough was taken by a technician or assistant under the studio name.

Printed on thin photographic paper, the oval print has been cut from a larger photograph and lightly stuck to card. It appears to be the only known print.

Magdalene Keaney

Physical descriptionback to top

Three-quarter-length, near profile to right, seated, right hand in lap, left hand tucked into jacket.

Provenanceback to top

Purchased, 1995.

View all known portraits for Oliver François Xavier Sarony