Unknown Photographer (XIX)

A group of 22 albumen prints, image size 9.2 x7.7cm (smallest) to 45 x28.5cm (largest), pasted down onto card, overall measuring 29 x25.7cm (smallest) to 45.5 x30cm (largest), some annotated in pencil verso. Subjects include portrait studies of two young women in classical poses, possibly identified as young Princess Mathilde Bonaparte (1820-1904) and Marie Christine Bonaparte (1842-1907); and a portrait of a man sitting in a garden, with manuscript caption 'Professeur de son A.R. Marie Christine'. The prints in this lot may have formed part of the collection of Mathilde Bonaparte, daughter of Napoleon’s brother, Jérôme Bonaparte, and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg. Mathilde was initially engaged to her first cousin, the future Napoleon III of France, but the engagement was broken off following his imprisonment. She was educated in the decorative arts and became a talented painter. She was also an important patron of the arts within Paris’s cultural circles. Her passion for acquiring artworks made her one of the rare women collectors of her time.