This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

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Photographic Technologies

Learn more about the photographic techniques available in the mid-19th century

    WILLIAM BAMBRIDGE

    Snowdrop, Prince Leopold's cat

    Jul 1856

    Wet collodion negative | RCIN 2083050

    William Bambridge, Snowdrop, Prince Leopold's cat, Jul 1856, albumen printCopyright: Royal Collection Enterprises Limited

    This is one in a series of glass plate negatives produced by the photographer William Bambridge (1820-79) depicting Snowdrop, a white cat owned by Prince Leopold, later the Duke of Albany (1853-84).

    Prince Albert placed a print of this work (RCIN 2906222), shown on the right, in his album Calotypes. Volume VI. 

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