Archive of photographs belonging to a Dutch East India Company coffee plantation overseer in East Java, early 1900s.

This small archive of 32 photographs – taken with a variety of camera types, and for the most part by different amateur photographers – was compiled by a Dutch East India Company employee, and documents his life as an overseer on a Company coffee plantation in East Java in the early 1900s. The backs of many of the photographs bear his inscriptions in Dutch, and although he identifies himself only in the first person, he helpfully identifies several other men – among them de Ronde, Wattecamp, Wendelaer, Collet, and Hogen – which should enable further research to uncover the location of the plantation.

All of the photographs are unmounted and are generally in good condition. Any significant defects are noted in the descriptions below.

I. View of the railway station, with colonials and local workers at Mrawan, East Java. Large format silver albumen print, 220 x 280 mm. A superb topographical shot almost certainly taken by a professional photographer. The detail is so sharp that the signs MRAWAN and SS (Staatsspoorwegen) can be easily read.

II-VII. Six views taken on a coffee plantation, showing cultivation, infrastructure, Dutch East India Company overseers and local workers. Silver albumen prints, format 150 x 200 mm (a couple with small corner loss).

VIII-XVIII. Eleven views taken on a plantation, including group portraits of Dutch colonials and their families, an informal game of tennis, and digging of drainage channels. Silver albumen prints, format 125 x 180 mm. (Two are duplicated).

XIX-XX. Two group portraits of Dutch colonials taken on a plantation. Stereoscopic printing out paper prints, format 90 x 190 mm.

XXI. Group portrait of four Dutch East India Company men. Silver albumen print, format 160 x 195 mm.

XXII. Group portrait of seven Dutch East India Company men. Silver gelatin print, format 160 x 195 mm (small loss to top corner).

XXIII. View of a plantation residence with two Dutch overseers and a local official. Silver albumen print, format 205 x 315 mm (crease marks and some silverfishing)

XXIV. Bird’s-eye view of a coffee plantation. Silver albumen print, format 215 x 280 mm (corner creasing).

XXV. Panoramic view of a plantation garden. Two conjoined silver gelatin prints, format 150 x 340 mm

XXVI-XXVII. Two studio portraits (taken in Soerabaja?) of four Dutch East India Company men. Bromide prints, format 105 x 140 mm / 110 x 105 mm (small corner loss).

XXVIII-XXIX. Two views (Dutch East India Company Wharf and Javanese river scene). Printing out paper prints, format 120 x 160 mm.

XXX-XXXI. Two snapshots of a Dutch colonial man holding a monkey and riding in a horsedrawn trap with local handler. Printing out paper prints, format 80 x 87 mm.

XXXII. Large group of Dutch East India Company men enjoying a drunken celebration. Bromide print, 200 x 270 mm (loss to lower corner).