'Prince Alebrt'

Glass plate negative showing a side view of a statuette of Prince Albert (RCIN 50468). The prince is shown in armour standing on a naturalistic base that is supported on a triangular pedestal with incurved sides.

The work was given to Albert Victor Edward Christian (1864-92), later Duke of Clarence and Avondale, by his grandmother Queen Victoria as a Christening gift in 10 March 1865. It was designed by E.H. Corbould, who was at the time fully engaged by the Queen on memorial projects of various kinds, and executed by Elkington & Co. The Queen's fourth daughter, Princess Louise, was also involved in the design.

According to The Illustrated London News, which carried an illustration of the gift on 6 January 1866, the figure personified Christian from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, perhaps a partial reference to the recipient's own name. The accompanying text described Prince Albert as the ‘presiding genius of the whole composition for almost every portion bears some reference to his exemplary life & character’.