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Pen and ink and watercolour design for the King's State Coach, shown from the side.
According to the official journal of the Department of the Master of the Horse for 1760, ‘At the Commencement of this Reign [25 October 1760] a very superb State Coa
Royal Mews

Explore objects related to the Royal Mews

UNKNOWN PERSON

Group of Grooms with the little pony Webster taken at the Mews, Buckingham Palace

May 1848

RCIN 2932499

Prince Alfred (1844-1900)©
Daguerreotype of a group of men and children gathered around a pony, standing by the main doors of the Royal Mews. At the centre of the group, a man kneels besides the pony. The pony faces left and rests its front left foot on his knee. To the left of the doorway a man stands on a ladder with his right hand in his pocket. The daguerreotype is mounted under glass.

In 1848 at least five daguerreotypes were made at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace by an unknown photographer. Of these, only two appear to have survived. Queen Victoria recorded in her journal on the 31st of May 1848 that she '… went to the stables to see the horses daguerotyped, which really was curious, particularly to see how badly the horses placed themselves, when they had to stand still'.

Webster was ridden by several royal children, and was a favourite childhood pony of Prince Alfred – Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s fourth child. Queen Victoria watched Prince Alfred riding in the Riding School in 1854 and wrote that ‘Affie has an excellent seat & looks so pretty, in his Highland dress, upon his shaggy little "Webster."’ Webster and his young rider were also sculpted by Carlo Marochetti, with the prince’s hand wrapped in his pony’s mane.


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