Queen Victoria; Britannia; King Edward VII with six human figures representing imperial subjects and two scenes of imperial expeditions

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Art Fund Popular Portraits Collection. Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London

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Queen Victoria; Britannia; King Edward VII with six human figures representing imperial subjects and two scenes of imperial expeditions

by Wallis Gimson & Co.
transfer-printed and hand-coloured earthenware, 1887
9 5/8 in. x 9 5/8 in. (244 mm x 244 mm) overall
Purchased with help from the Art Fund, 2018
Reference Collection
NPG D48623

Sittersback to top

  • Britannia, Allegory of a nation, emblem of empire, and patriotic icon. Sitter associated with 29 portraits.
  • King Edward VII (1841-1910), Reigned 1901-10. Sitter associated with 505 portraits.
  • Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Reigned 1837-1901. Sitter associated with 548 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

This portraitback to top

This plate was produced for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887, which celebrated fifty years of her reign. It presents a narrative of national achievement that focuses on the wealth and extent of the British empire. This was promoted by the Establishment as a source of national pride and identity, consciously using the queen’s image to symbolise 'British' cultural values. Produced and sold at affordable prices, such plates were an attempt to capitalize on the patriotic sentiments that were heightened by the jubilee celebrations.

Placesback to top

Events of 1887back to top

Current affairs

Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years of her reign.
In what becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday', or the Trafalgar Square Riot, the police attack a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation, led by among others) Elizabeth Reynolds, John Burns, Annie Besant and Robert Cunninghame-Graham, killing three and injuring more than 200 crowd members.

Art and science

A Study in Scarlet, the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson, is published. One of only four novels (there were a further 56 short stories) featuring Holmes, the mystery turns around the discovery of a corpse in Brixton.
The essayist and critic Walter Pater publishes Imaginary Portraits in which he consolidates his doctrine of Aestheticism, 'art for art's sake'.

International

Britain ratifies the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, thus accepting the terms of the International Copyright Act (1886), which abolishes the requirement to register foreign works and introduces an exclusive right to import or produce translations.
The British annex Zululand; it becomes part of Natal in 1897.

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