Queen Victoria on 'Fyvie' with John Brown at Balmoral
About this artwork
This photograph was originally conceived by Queen Victoria as a tribute to her late husband, Prince Albert, taken on the second anniversary of her last 'Great Expedition' with him into the Highlands. G.W.Wilson subsequently gained permission to distribute it as a carte de visite, cropping out another figure to focus attention on the mourning Queen's relationship with her faithful servant, John Brown. In its first year of publication, this and a few similar images sold near 13,000 copies, their popularity doubtless heightened by the rumour-mongers who referred to the Queen as 'Mrs Brown'.
Updated before 2020
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artist:George Washington Wilson (1823 - 1893) Scottish
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title:Queen Victoria on 'Fyvie' with John Brown at Balmoral
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date created:1863
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materials:Carte de visite
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measurements:9.20 x 6.10 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Gift of Mrs. Riddell in memory of Peter Fletcher Riddell 1985
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accession number:PGP R 884
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
George Washington Wilson
George Washington Wilson
A hugely successful businessman, George Washington Wilson had left home at twelve to be a carpenter and subsequently trained as a portrait painter before turning to photography in 1853. By the 1860s he owned printing works in Aberdeen that produced thousands of prints with views from all over...