Galle Face Hotel, Ceylon
An exceptionally well put together early advertising postcard. The palm trees around the hotel image extend the real ones inside the frame, the one on the top right seems to jut out from the actual ones.
Plate & Co.
A Mendicant
The term mendicant refers to begging or relying on charitable donations, and is most widely used for religious followers or ascetics who rely on charity to survive. Plate & Co.
The Entrance, Mount Lavinia Hotel, Colombo
The Mount Lavinia Hotel was originally built in 1806, and after falling into disrepair, Mount Lavinia House was rebuilt in 1830 by the British Governor Edward Barnes at a cost of 30,000 pounds.
Singhalese ayah (Nurse Maid)
Plate & Co. in Colombo dominated the postcard trade on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and sold half a million postcards in 1907 alone, an enormous sum for a single publisher.
Head of Tamil Girl
The sitter's expression is among the more memorable antique postcard portraits.
A Buddhist Priest, Ceylon
An unusual keyhole view by Plate & Co. The top part of the front of the card could also have been used for a message. Plate's Art Card series was distinguished for its rich use of color on a slightly embossed or corrugated halftone surface.
A Rodiya Woman Carrying Water, Ceylon
Plate & Co., like many Ceylon-based firms, published semi-nude postcards of women, more common here than even in South India, including this card with a nicely placed purple stamp.
Madras Merchant, Colombo
An unusual postcard in the use of so much black, which beautifully brings out the portrait of this man, his beard and clothing (black was expensive for printers due to the amount of ink consumed). Due to better economic prospects in Sri Lanka, during
A Tamil Girl, Ceylon
One of my favourite postcards by the great Colombo publisher Plate & Co., simply because the girl's stare or startled expression is so memorable. Although I used the color version in the book, this seems just as gripping. What is she looking at?
The tooth relic of Lord Buddha
The Sacred Relic of the tooth of Buddha is venerated in Sri Lanka [Ceylon] as relic of Gautama Buddha, and is kept in a Temple of the Holy Tooth in Kandy.
