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Cundall & Howlett
Company Sergeant William Christie and Sergeant Samuel McGifford
1856
Salted paper print
22.5 x 18.5 cm (image)
The Royal Collection
RCIN 2500183
LL/91130
Photograph of Company Sergeant William Christie and Sergeant Samuel McGifford, both of the 4th Battalion Royal Artillery. They are standing in front of a wooden cart, with Company Sergeant Christie to the left sitting on its edge and holding a banner depicting St Michael. Sergeant McGifford is standing to the right holding a banner of St George and the Dragon. Both are wearing military uniform and a rucksack.
Company Sergeant Christie and Sergeant McGifford served in the Crimean War, neither suffering any injury. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had visited Woolwich barracks to welcome a group of the Royal Artillery back from the Crimea, after which they commissioned a series of portraits of the men from the photographers Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett. The note which accompanies this photograph explains that the banners they hold are constructed from wall paintings taken from a church in Sebastopol.
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