Carte de visite Paul Frecker Silvy's daybooks, held in the archives of the National Portrait Gallery, show seventeen self-portraits taken at the studio during his time in London. Some of these show him alone, some in the company of his wife or mother, while two show him in fancy dress. This portrait, however, does not appear in the daybooks, so it probably dates to the period covered by the missing volume, meaning that it was taken some time between July 1863 and June 1864. Stylistically, the backdrop and the properties in this portrait fit with that assumption.
