Lot 314 Dα

This watercolour by an unknown English artist shows the Victoria bridge over the Thames river near Datchet. Along with its pendant, the Albert bridge, the construction was part of the renovations and extensions to the grounds of Windsor Palace initiated by Prince Albert in the 1850s. The iron and stone bridges were very modern for their time, and Prince Albert is said to have collaborated on their design. They were inaugurated in 1851, the same year as the Great Exhibition in London, which also brought the Prussian Prince Friedrich Wilhelm to the English capital. It was during this visit that he first met the English Queen's nine year old daughter Princess Victoria, who would later become his wife.
In the sketch we see elegant company on a boat crossing under the bridge in Windsor that bears the name of both the princess and her mother, and the fact that the back of the work bears the monogram “V” beneath a crown indicates that the piece may originate from the estate of the princess herself.