Overall: 40cm (15.7in) x 24cm (9.4in)
Sepia full length photograph signed ‘Roberts F.M.’ in the Field Marshal’s hand in the lower mount. Image: 28cm (11in) x 15cm (6in). Framed and glazed.
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford (1832-1914) was born in Cawnpore, India and served in the Indian Army for twenty-five years seeing action in Indian Mutiny and on the Abyssinian Expedition. He later commanded the British forces in Afghanistan in 1881-1882. He was Commander-in-Chief, India (1885-1893), in the South African War (1899-1902) and, finally, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army (1901-1904). Roberts was awarded the Victoria Cross while serving as a Lieutenant in the Bengal Horse Artillery during the Indian Mutiny. In 1899, his son, Frederick Roberts was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Colenso during the South African War.