Queen Victoria

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Queen Victoria

by Walery, published by Sampson Low & Co
carbon print, published December 1889
9 7/8 in. x 7 1/8 in. (250 mm x 182 mm) image size
Acquired, before 1970
Photographs Collection
NPG x7261

Sitterback to top

  • Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Reigned 1837-1901. Sitter associated with 548 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Sampson Low & Co, Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 152 portraits.
  • Walery (active 1884-1898), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 197 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Walery's first photographs of the Queen were extensively used at the time of her Golden Jubilee in 1887. In an article in The Woman at Home, 1894, Walery described his father's royal sittings; ''Her majesty the Queen will communicate with us, fixing a date. Upon the date appointed, we proceed with a camera, backgrounds etc. to Windsor, where her Majesty is photographed in a studio, which was, I believe, originally used by the late Prince Consort, one of whose hobbies was photography. Some photographers have three or four camera going at once, so that they may be sure of the result, but we have never had more than one. Her Majesty is an excellent sitter, most gracious, kind and considerate.'

Placesback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1889back to top

Current affairs

The London Dock strike takes place resulting in a victory for the dock workers striking over pay and conditions.
Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, allowing legal intervention between children and parents for the first time.
Charles Booth, the English social scientist, publishes the first volume of Life and Labour of the People, an extensive survey into the living conditions of London's East End working class communities.

Art and science

George Gissing's The Nether World, a dark account of the lives of the urban poor in Clerkenwell, is published. Gissing absorbs the French naturalist style of writers such as Emile Zola to produce a harshly realistic observation of life in London at the end of the nineteenth century.

International

The Eiffel Tower is erected, designed by the French engineer and bridge builder Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Exposition. At 300m high, it was the tallest manmade structure in the world at the time.
The Second International organisation is formed at a Congress in Paris by various socialist and labour parties, with the intention of working together for international socialism. It also declared 1 May International Labour Day.

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