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THE YOUNG PRINCE ABROAD: MAYALL’S RARE DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAIT OF MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH, CIRCA 1858

This exceptionally rare daguerreotype portrays Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–1893), the deposed ruler of the Sikh Empire and one of the most compelling figures of colonial-era India. Photographed shortly after his arrival in England, Duleep Singh is shown in formal attire—adorned with an embroidered turban, strings of pearls and... THE YOUNG PRINCE ABROAD: MAYALL’S RARE DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAIT OF MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH, CIRCA 1858

This exceptionally rare daguerreotype portrays Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–1893), the deposed ruler of the Sikh Empire and one of the most compelling figures of colonial-era India. Photographed shortly after his arrival in England, Duleep Singh is shown in formal attire—adorned with an embroidered turban, strings of pearls and emeralds, and insignia of British chivalric orders, notably the Star of India.

The portrait is attributed to John Jabez Edwin Mayall, a pioneering daguerreotypist active in London during the 1850s and widely known for his royal commissions, including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Mayall’s Regent Street studio was among the most prestigious photographic establishments of the period. This image was the source for an engraved portrait by D J Pound, published in The Drawing-Room Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages (1859), and The Illustrated News of the World published by The London Joint Stock Newspaper Company, London, which identified Mayall as the original photographer. The engraving served to introduce Duleep Singh to a broader British public, casting him as an anglicised yet exotic princely figure.

Mayall’s daguerreotypes from this period are known for their luminous clarity and refined presentation. The daguerreotype’s composition—a formal seated portrait with rich and crisp detailing of facial features, textile textures, and jewellery and detailed tonality—is presented in an oval gilt brass mat of scroll and engine-turned design, typical of high-end photographic presentation of the era. The housing case retains its original maroon velvet pad and clasp, and the image displays the hallmark mirror-like reflectivity of the daguerreotype process, underscoring its authenticity and completes the elegant period presentation.

This portrait stands not only as an artistic and technical accomplishment of early photography but also as a powerful emblem of the personal and political complexities of colonialism. The image captures the complexities of his identity—Indian royalty rendered in the lens of the colonial British elite, symbolising assimilation, loss, and spectacle. Duleep Singh, once heir to the Koh-i-Noor and sovereign of Punjab, is here immortalised at the height of his assimilation into British aristocracy—before his eventual rebellion and exile.

Few daguerreotypes of Indian royalty survive, and fewer still with such verifiable authorship, historical resonance, cultural significance and pristine condition represent a cornerstone in the visual documentation of colonial-era South Asia.

This lot is accompanied by an engraving done by D J Pound after a photograph by Mayall and titled His Royal Highness the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, measuring 34.5 x 22 cm. This print was supplement to The Illustrated News of the World published by The London Joint Stock Newspaper Company, London

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