This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Glass plate negatives

Albert and Victoria’s collection of glass plate negatives show photographers’ working methods

JOHN JABEZ EDWIN MAYALL (1813-1901)

RCIN 2084854

Glass plate negative of a full-length portrait of Princess Helena (1846-1923) seated, facing towards the camera. She turns her head three-quarters towards the right. She wears a lace-edged blouse, full skirt and flower garland on her head. She holds a straw hat in her left hand.

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Prints from this negative do not seem to exist in the Collection, however a variant from the same sitting is represented by RCIN 2900058.
  • Creator(s)

    John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Princess Helena (1846-1923)
  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Subject(s)
    • Natural Sciences & Mathematics
      • Botany
        • Systematic botany
          • Flowering plants
    • People
      • Children
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Great Britain
          • England
            • Isle of Wight [England]
              • Osborne Estate [Isle of Wight]
                • Osborne House
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
          • negatives
            • glass plate negatives