Charming and very rare portrait of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. Vintage aluminized salt print from a collodion glass negative by Roger Fenton, February 8, 1854.

Portrait of the Prince of Wales, posing as a hunter, loading the little rifle. A powder flask is visible too. A variety of dead game are laid out by his feet, including a pheasant and a rabbit. The Prince wears a peaked hat and stands against a sheet as a backdrop. The gun that the prince holds was his first gun and was later used by King George V, the Duke of Clarence, Edward VIII, and King George VI when they were boys.
The negative (see last image for reference only) has been masked out, indicating the photographer's intention to crop the work to the smaller frame. Small parts of the red retouched parts in the negative can be seen in both prints we offer in this lot.

Albumenized salt print ca. 20,2 x 10,8 cm.

Faded, some light surface rubbing, traces of previous mounting on the verso, some small dark spots from early retouching. Otherwise in good condition.

This lot includes a later official copy of the original print. This silver gelatine print is made by Vernon Kirk Armitage, Fenton's brother-in-law, as a coronation gift to King Edward VII. In addition to the copy gifted to the king, six copies were distributed to members of the Armitage and Fenton families.

Silver galantine print: ca. 15 x 11 cm (some mirroring)
Oblong cardboard ca. 19 x 27 cm

Literature: more information about this photographic session with Roger Fenton can be found in:
Anne Lyden, A Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography, 2014.
Roger Taylor in: All The Mighty World, The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852-1860, Yale University Press, 2004 (p. 76-77)
Hans P. Kraus, Jr.: Roger Fenton A Family Album, Sun Pictures catalogue 14, 2005 (p. 100 photo 49, another print from this photoshoot)

A print of this image is also in the Royal Collection Trust. See a reproduction of the glass negative from the same collection for reference only.