[Princess Helena]

From the Getty Museum record

If you click on the full album page above, you will see an elaborately drawn architectural structure that integrates slightly trimmed _cartes-de-visite_ portraits of six of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s children. Victorian photocollagists were typically upper-class women who took their photographic materials primarily from _cartes-de-visite_. Patented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, the _carte-de-visite_ was easily and inexpensively printed ([84.XD.1157.2179](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107JXY)). By the 1860s, _cartomania_ had taken hold. It became customary to exchange _cartes-de-visite_ when calling upon friends. These small studio portraits measure 3 ½ x 2 1/8 inches, about the size of a playing card. It is not known whether the artists removed the photographs from the thick cardstock on which they had been mounted or obtained unmounted prints from the photographer. People also collected cards of the royal family, actors, and military heroes. So, the same images might appear in multiple albums. A woman’s collection of portraits visually displayed her social circle and favorite celebrities, such as the portraits of Queen Victoria’s children found in this collage. The unknown photocollagist of this album also created another grouping of the queen; her husband; their son Prince Edward; his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark; and their son Prince Albert Victor ([84.XA.1252.37](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108ZWV), [84.XA.1252.38](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108ZWW), [84.XA.1252.39](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109P74), [84.XA.1252.40](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109P7A), [84.XA.1252.41](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109P77)). See also two collages that feature Major-General Gordon ([84.XA.1252.9 ](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108ZW0) and [84.XA.1252.33](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108ZWX)) Carolyn Peter, J. Paul Getty Museum, Department of Photographs, 2021 For more information about this album see the extended essay.