Four original sepia studio photographs of Gladstone, and one of his wife. With photographic reproduction of an optical illusion caricature.
ITEM ONE: Photograph of Gladstone, 14 x 10 cm, by Thomas Fall (1833-1900). In very good condition, laid down on the photographer's worn printed card, 16.5 x 11 cm. Showing Gladstone seated outdoors, with his grandson on his knee. NPG x22229 (the entry for which describes it as a 'carbon cabinet card', taken on 14 September 1881). ITEM TWO: Photograph of Gladstone, 14.5 x 10 cm, by Samuel Alexander Walker (1841-1922). Laid down on the photographer's printed card ('Portraits "At Home" A new Application of Photography introduced by Samuel A. Walker'), 16.5 x 11 cm. Facsimile of Gladstone's signature beneath image. Lightly-faded and a little worn about extremities. Striking head-and-shoulders image of Gladstone, with polka-dot cravat, staring directly into the camera with dilated pupils. Not in the National Portrait Gallery collection, but possibly the basis of the chromolithograph by Maclure and Macdonald, 'after Samuel A. Walker', NPG D34522. ITEM THREE: Photograph of Gladstone, 13.5 x 9.5 cm. Laid down on 16.5 x 11 cm pink card, with 'MR. GLADSTONE, M.P.' printed beneath image. No other writing on card. Faded and grubby, on worn card. Shows Gladstone, shot from his left side, staring straight ahead while seated at a carved wooden table on which he rests his arms. ITEM FOUR: Photograph of Gladstone, 14.5 x 11 cm. Unbacked. Clear image in fair condition. The actual image is around 8 x 5.5 cm, with the area around it deliberately clouded. It shows a younger Gladstone, photographed from his left, in cravat and suit, holding what appears to be the text of a speech while staring seriously before him. ITEM FIVE: Photograph of Mrs Gladstone, 14 x 10 cm, by the London Stereoscopic Company. Possibly one of a pair. Good impression, lightly worn, laid on the photographer's aged card, 16 x 10.5 cm, with 'MRS. GLADSTONE' printed beneath the image (but the firm's full name is given as the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company Ltd). Shows Mrs Gladstone standing in dark clothing behind a chair, over which she drapes a white flower with her left hand. Apparently not in the National Portrait Gallery. ITEM SIX: Sepia photograph, 9 x 8 cm, of a caricature, captioned 'WHERE IS GLADSTONE?' Shows a mournful donkey, whose lower jaw, with tongue lolling from mouth, is in fact a caricature of Gladstone, with the tongue being his nose. Artist's monogram at head. Slightly faded, and with a little chipping to extremities.