A profile portrait of the wife of Charles Dickens, Catherine (1815-1879), by John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1810-1901), is to be sold at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, as part of the Photographs Sale on 17th May.
The only daguerreotype portrait of Catherine known to exist, it has been estimated at £8,000 – 12,000. The portrait first came to light in 1996, discovered in an antique camera shop in Canterbury.
Initially believed to be an image of Charles Dickens’s sister, leading scholars soon identified the sitter as the writer’s wife. The earliest date for the portrait can be given as 1852 from the patent date ‘Reg July 20 1852’ on the catch of the morocco-bound case.
More Information: www.artdaily.com
Photo source: wikipedia.org
April 2012