Queen Victoria's sitting room in the old house at Balmoral

A hand coloured photograph of Queen Victoria's sitting room in the old house at Balmoral Castle. Tables stand in the centre and on the left of the photo. In the background are two doors and a fireplace on the left. Pictures and stags heads hang on the walls.

Prior to its demolition in 1856, the Aberdeen artist James William Giles (1801-70) was commissioned by Queen Victoria in August 1855 to record the four principal rooms in the old Balmoral Castle. The watercolours he produced were subsequently considered too large and Wilson was asked to photograph and print them in a smaller size. Giles was then asked again to hand colour the photographs to replicate the original, larger watercolours.