Carte-de-Visite Portrait of Florence Nightingale.
N.p. c. 1870s. Carte After the original photograph by William Edward Kilburn (1818–1891), taken circa 1854, with later CDV issue, probably circa 1870s. Albumen print mounted on card; sitter identified in print beneath image. Standard carte-de-visite format (approximately 2½ x 4 inches). Excellent contrast with light surface wear. Item #List36105
Seated three-quarter portrait of Nightingale in dark silk dress with white collar, hands folded over a paper, posed beside an upholstered Victorian chair. The image derives from a sitting arranged in London with William Edward Kilburn, one of Britain’s early professional photographers and a former daguerreotypist who gained fame by exhibiting at the Great Exhibition of 1851. By the early 1850s Kilburn had established a reputation for photographing members of the aristocracy and prominent public figures.
The Nightingale sitting happened shortly before her departure for the Crimea in October 1854, at a moment when her name was just entering the public press. The portrait predates her full transformation into the national icon later known as the “Lady with the Lamp.” Unlike later, more romanticized images, Kilburn’s photograph presents a composed, unsentimental likeness more consistent with standard portraiture practices than her later photographs. Following Nightingale’s wartime service at Scutari (1854–1856) and the subsequent surge of public acclaim, Kilburn’s image became the primary photographic source from which engravings, lithographs, and later carte-de-visite reproductions were made.[1]
[1] Denis Pellerin, “Florence Nightingale: The Mystery Behind Her Iconic Photographs,” The Classic (November 15, 2020), https://theclassicphotomag.com/florence-nightingale-the-mysteries-behind-her-iconic-photographs/, accessed February 27, 2026.
Price: $600.00