Portrait of Pedro V of Portugal with autogr. ms. dedication.

Salt print, 30,5 x 22,8 cm, photographer's drystamp "Wenceslau Ciffka" on lower mount.

Under passe-partout and frame (not studied outside frame).

With ms. dedication "für meine liebe Maria, von Ihren brüder Pedro". Peter V was King of Portugal from 1853 to 1861 and had 10 brothers and sisters of which 3 called Maria. Václav Cífka, also referred to as Wenceslau Cifka (1811-1884), was a versatile Czech artist who established himself mainly as a landscape architect at the Portuguese royal court. He was also a pioneer of photographic techniques and became the owner of probably the first permanent daguerreotype studio in Lisbon. He is the author of the first photographs of members of the royal family which until then had only been portrayed by painters to start with Ferdinand II, father of Peter V.