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Photograph

Photograph

  • Place of origin:

    Buckingham Palace (photographed)

  • Date:

    October 1942 (photographed)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Beaton, Cecil (Sir), born 1904 - died 1980 (photographer)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    photography

  • Credit Line:

    Bequeathed to the Museum in 1987 by Eileen Hose, secretary to the photographer

  • Museum number:

    PH.289-1987

  • Gallery location:

    Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F, case X, shelf 914, box R

Physical description

Photograph depicting Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), 1942. Three-quarter length, standing in profile, to left. Leaning against, and resting one hand upon a carved and gilded table. Wearing a silk gown embroidered with sequins forming 'bow' shapes, and a pearl necklace. In the background, an oval shaped painting of a baby in a gilded frame, is hung surrounded by a ribbon-like wall decoration.

Place of Origin

Buckingham Palace (photographed)

Date

October 1942 (photographed)

Artist/maker

Beaton, Cecil (Sir), born 1904 - died 1980 (photographer)

Materials and Techniques

photography

Marks and inscriptions

'213-7'
Written on the back of the photograph in pencil.

Dimensions

Width: 19.3 cm paper, Height: 20.2 cm paper, Width: 19.3 cm image, Height: 20.2 cm image

Descriptive line

Royal Portrait by Cecil Beaton (1904-1980). Photograph depicting Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), 1942.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Strong, Roy C. Cecil Beaton: the royal portraits. London: Thames and Hudson, c1988. p. 96

Labels and date

Princess Elizabeth, Buckingham Palace
October 1942

Beaton found the 1942 sitting a challenging one. He wrote in his diary of his quest for originality and his desire to produce a ‘composition that is not merely a pastiche of the past’. The sixteen year-old Princess Elizabeth posed in the Bow Room at Buckingham Palace, beside Winterhalter’s portrait of Prince Leopold at the age of three months.

Gelatin silver print
V&A: Ph.289-1987
[2012]

Production Note

Cecil Beaton photographed members of the royal family from 1930-1979.

Materials

Paper

Techniques

Gelatin silver process

Categories

Photographs; Portraits; Royalty

Collection

Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection

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