Corporal Courtenay

8.5" x 6.5" glass plate negative showing Corporal Courtenay sitting on the carriage of a mortar with one leg slightly raised. He is wearing military uniform and is holding a long wooden cane in one hand while the other rests on the mortar. One of his eyes is covered by a patch. There is an area of open grassland behind.

Corporal Courtenay served with the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot during the Crimean War, suffering extensive shot wounds on 28th May 1855. This is one of a series of portraits of wounded Crimean War veterans collected by Queen Victoria shortly after the war.

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Prints from this negative exist in the Collection (e.g. RCIN 2500161).