A beautiful portrait of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the Prince Impérial (1856 - 1879) His "bonnet à poils" on the chair near him, wearing a "bonnet de police".
Photographer's imprint only on the front, "Disdéri, Phot.".

(Text by P. Frecker)
Born on 16 March 1856, the Prince Imperial appears to be about two or three years old in this photograph. The military uniform that he wears symbolized the commitment of his father's regime to military strength. The costume is therefore not only 'cute' and amusing, but also part of a campaign of political propaganda.

In spite of the sitter's small size, Disdéri has not moved the camera closer to his subject in order to fill the frame, but has instead maintained the customary distance already established for full-length, adult portraiture. The short focus of the carte-de-visite lens did not allow for much manipulation of the camera, with the result that many carte portraits of children in this period appear poorly composed and unbalanced.

Literature:
Elizabeth Anne McCauley, A.A.E. Disderi and the Carte de Visite Portrait Photograph, 1985
Boisjoly: 'Répertoire des photographes parisiens du XIXe siècle', 2009