[Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee]

after 1887

Medium

Albumen silver print with brown and ink wash

Dimensions

30.7 × 37.5 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-820875

The photocollages in this album were likely make by a British upper-class woman during the 1880s and 1890s. Considered to be a hobbyist at the time, today she and other Victorian photocollagists are viewed as artists. The anonymous artist of this album created numerous scenes in her familiar indoor domestic settings. However, she also ventured outdoors to depict other types of social activities in which she and her circle would have participated. Here, a group has gathered on a balcony to celebrate Queen Victoria’s 1887 Golden Jubilee. The group is probably observing a parade or the passing of the royal entourage on a London street. The photocollagist drew panels on the wall behind the standing figures to mark the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation (1837) and the current year (1887)—her fiftieth as queen. A hand-sketched banner interwoven in the railing says, “God Save the Queen” and another, hanging above, expresses additional well wishes to the queen. The artist adopted photographic compositional framing practices more common in photography by cropping the top edge of this second banner and allowing its far-right edge to fall outside the image. It became popular in the Vi…