Ceylon-Colombo Street Scene
A rich color palette pervades this scene.
Plate & Co.
Lakeside View, Kandy, Ceylon.
A postcard in Plate's "Art Card" format, a slightly embossed halftone rich in color and atmosphere.
Betel Leaf Seller, Colombo
A wonderfully posed studio shot by Plate & Co., the well-known Colombo postcard publisher and portrait artist.
Ceylon
A later "Greetings from" postcard where the divided back, allowing people to write messages on the back of cards in addition to the address, allowed the publisher to put many more photographs of the place on the front.
A Corner of Kandy Lake, Ceylon
An example of how nicely the real photo postcard could be used to maximize the depth and mystery of black and white photography, here on glossy stock by A.W. Plate & Co., a firm which tried every type of postcard printing process.
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.
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.
