Julia Margaret Cameron, 1815-1879

comprising 'The Snowdrop', 1870-72 (Kate Keown) [illustrated], 'Blackberry Gatherers', circa 1866-1868 (Elizabeth Keown, Kate Keown & Freddy Gould), 'The red & white Roses', 1865 or before (cropped to show only Kate Keown), 'The Minstrel Group', circa 1866 (cropped to show only Kate & Elizabeth Keown) and 'I will be good' (also known as 'I promise'), circa 1865 (Alice Keown), Albumen Prints, each mounted on card except for 'The red & white Roses' which is mounted over another photograph from the period (possibly of Falmouth), 'The Snowdrop' titled, inscribed 'From life registered Photograph Copyright' , signed '.... Cameron Freshwater' by the photographer in ink, the first part of Cameron's signature excised and annotated 'Henry Herschel Hay' in ink [by photographer's son?], all on the mount below image, 'Blackberry Gatherers' 1870 signed, titled, dated and inscribed 'From Life Registered Photograph Copy right' by the photographer in ink on the (gilt-ruled) mount below image, 'The Minstrel Group' inscribed '... Life' and signed 'Julia Margaret Came...' by the photographer in ink on the mount (worn), 'I will be good' titled, inscribed 'Registered Photograph' and signed 'Julia Margaret Ca...' on the mount below image (worn), also inscribed in ink 'Alice Jessie Keown/age 4 years/1865/Freshwater Bay' in a later hand on the reverse,      

Alice Jessie Keown.
Thence by descent.

For other prints of these images see J. Cox & C. Ford 2003, cat. nos. 990, 961, 981, 1099 & 978. It is of particular interest that the entry for cat. no. 990, 'The Snowdrop', states 'whereabouts unknown' for the location of the reproduced print. This suggests that the work offered here may be the only known print of this subject.
It is also interesting to note the inscription on the reverse of 'I promise'. It identifies the sitter as Alice Jessie and not Elizabeth as is stated in the catalogue raisonné.  

The sisters were the children of Sara[h] and Thomas Keown and lived at Freshwater Bay, a field away from the Camerons, on the Isle of Wight. Thomas Keown was a member of the Royal Artillery and had been posted to the Freshwater Redoubt. Thomas and Kate featured together in one of Cameron's earliest photographic studies, taken in early 1864, and Kate, Elizabeth and Alice sat to Cameron in many different guises in the twelve years to 1872, the year in which the Camerons left Freshwater for Ceylon [Sri Lanka].