The Singapore Philatelic Museum will be exhibiting some 100 rare picture postcards capturing the history and heritageof Singapore from early next month. They were taken by G.R. Lambert, a famous German photographer who arrived in Singapore in 1867.
He produced the first picture postcard of Singapore, in addition to taking 3,000 photographs of landscapes and people of Singapore in the 19th century. He was extensively patronised by the British colonial authorities to record political occasions and official visits.
He was not only renowned in Singapore, but also in the region. He was appointed as the official photographer to the King of Siam, and also the Sultan of Johore in British Malaya. And by the end of the 19th century, his photographic company, G.R. Lambert and Co, was the largest and most successful photographic studio in Asia.
During the "Golden Age of Picture Postcards" from 1906 to 1913, there was a postcard craze which saw the company having a turnover of about quarter of a million postcards a year. The exhibition was made possible through the donation of the picture postcards by avid philatelist Koh Seow Chuan.
So, if you are heading to the Far East for a holiday and/or to sample some culinary delights, details of the exhibition can be found here.
Photo: A photograph of Cavanagh Bridge in 19th centurySingapore.
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