G.R. Lambert & Co.
1881 (or later)
"Fruits of Singapore"

Albumen print
20.5 x 27 cm
 
Bassenge Photography Auctions
Auction, 8 June 2022, Photography from the 19th - 21st centuries, Lot: 4068
 
Among a variety of fruits a bottle of Rhine wine from the year 188? is also placed. This wine was distributed by the company Behn, Meyer & Co. in Singapore, founded in 1840 by two Hamburg merchants, Theodor August Behn and Valentin Lorenz Meyer. The company initially traded in tropical fruits and other products, such as coconut oil, tobacco, copra, pepper, camphor and rattan, etc., before later expanding into other areas. This bottle can also be seen in one other photo of a total of five similar still lifes. It is quite possible that these photographs were commissioned by this company. This is an earlier print which does not bear Lambert's name, stamp or number, which later prints often do have.
 
Lit.: Joachim K. Bautze. "G.R. Lambert & Co.: Creators of the lasting Image of Nineteenth-Century Singapore" in: Amek Gambar. Taking Pictures. Peranakans and Photography. Edited by Peter Lee. Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum 2020, pp. 390-415, Ill. p. 402.
 
LL/120222