Alexander Bassano (1829-1913) was the leading high society portrait photographer in Victorian London.

He opened his first studio in 1850 in Regent Street. The studio then moved to Piccadilly 1859-1863, to Pall Mall and then to 25 Old Bond Street in 1877. Bassano also had studios at: 122 Regent Street, 1862-76; 72 Piccadilly, 1870-81; 25 Old Bond Street, 1878-1903; 182 Oxford Street, 1889; 42 Pall Mall, 1891-92; 18 Alpha Road, 1892-96. There was also a company named "Bassano and Davis" at 122 Regent Street in 1866, a firm named "Bassano Limited" at 25 Old Bond Street from 1906 and a "Bassano's Studio's Ltd" at 25 Old Bond Street, 1904-05. The National Portrait Gallery, owner of a large number of Bassano's photographs, states that Bassano's firm was based at 25 Old Bond Street from 1876 to 1921. The Quadrant at the bottom of Regent Street. ... An arcade in Old Bond Street Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London which runs through Mayfair from Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. ... Piccadilly is a major London street, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. ... Oxford Street, from the top deck of a bus Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster, and one of the worlds most famous streets for shopping. ... Pall mall illustrated in Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs, published 1891 Pall mall (pronounced pal-mal or pell-mell) or palle maille was a game played in the 16th and 17th centuries, and a precursor to croquet. ... The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ...

The Old Bond Street studio was decorated with carbon photographic prints and plaster busts, and was large enough to accommodate an 80-foot panoramic background scene mounted on rollers, which provided a variety of outdoor scenes or court backgrounds. He had taken portraits of William Gladstone and even Queen Victoria. Bassano's head of Lord Kitchener formed the basis of the First World war recruiting poster Your Country Needs You. Bassano retired from work at the studio around 1903, when the premises were extensively refurbished and relaunched as "Bassano Ltd, Royal Photographers". William Ewart Gladstone (December 29, 1809 - May 19, 1898) was a British Liberal politician and Prime Minister (1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886 and 1892-1894). ... Queen Victoria, see Queen Victoria (ship). ... The Earl Kitchener The Right Honourable Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850–5 June 1916) was a British Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz...

The studio moved once again in 1921: a move written about by the Lady's Pictorial at the time. The article described about a million negatives, all systematically numbered, which had to be moved from the cellars of the premises to the new location at 38 Dover Street. The company became "Bassano and Vandyk" in 1964. The following year it incorporated "Elliot and Fry", a photographic partnership that had been running in Baker Street since 1863. In 1977, the company became "Industrial Photographic", based at 35 Moreton Street, SW1. 94 Baker Street, formerly the Apple Boutique. ...

Many glass plates from the Bassano Studios, including some by Alexander Bassano, are held in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The Museum of London holds a large number of the fashion-related plates.

Sources

• Michael Pritchard: A directory of London photographers 1841-1908 (Watford: PhotoResearch, 1994)

External Links

• [1] Selfportraits
• [2] Photos of his daughters Adelaide Fanny Louise Barber (née Bassano, b. 1850) and Camilla Teresa Serjeant (née Bassano)