Carte-de-visites were introduced to Britain in the late 1840's and began a new era in popular photography. Local studios and itinerant photographers ensured availability across the United Kingdom.

This photograph shows an image of a seated Victorian woman, against a background of a pillar and urn. The lady's hairstyle and crinoline type of dress suggests this photograph dates from the mid 1860's.

The 'carte' became so popular, that by the 1860's between three and four hundred million were sold annually to people of most social backgrounds. The craze for collecting carte-de-visites is sometimes referred to as 'cartomania', and spread over most of Europe and North America.