Albert and Victoria commissioned and gifted decorative objects featuring photographs to celebrate special occasions

JOHN JABEZ EDWIN MAYALL (1813-1901)

Gold stanhope

c. 1862

Gold viewing device with lens and microphotograph | 1.4 x 0.7 x 0.8 cm (whole object) | RCIN 24718

A gold stanhope containing eight microphotographs of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children. The photographs include a portrait of Princess Beatrice (RCIN 2907757), a portrait of Princess Alice with her brother the Prince of Wales (possibly RCIN 2900332), portraits of Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold in Highland dress (possibly RCIN 2900363), a portrait of Princess Helena and Princess Louise (possibly RCIN 2143804), among others of the family. It appears all the photographs are by J J Mayall.

Stanhopes developed out of the nineteenth-century fascination for microphotographs. Stanhopes consisted of a small object, similar to a trinket, embedded with a lens to view a microphotograph. The most popular manufacturer of stanhopes was René Dagron, who presented a set of stanhopes to Queen Victoria in 1862.

Creator(s)

John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) (photographer)

Subject(s)

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848-1939)

Princess Helena (1846-1923)

Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-1901)

Prince Albert, Prince Consort (1819-61)

Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg (1857-1944)

Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse & by Rhine (1843-78)

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg & Gotha (1844-1900)

Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught (1850-1942)

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-84)

King Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom (1841-1910)

Empress Friedrich, German Empress and Queen of Prussia (1840-1901)
1.4 x 0.7 x 0.8 cm (whole object)
Acquired by Queen Victoria
Object type(s)

Gold stanhope

Creator(s)

Subject(s)

Object type(s)

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