Title: Chinese Bride in Batavia

Description

This photograph shows a Chinese bride in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in her wedding dress. The commercial development of Batavia under the Dutch created numerous opportunities for immigrants from China, who became a favored minority and helped to support Dutch colonial rule. While many Chinese immigrants and their descendants adopted Dutch lifestyles by the late 19th century, others continued to identify with China and maintained Chinese customs and traditional dress. The photograph was taken by the studio of Woodbury & Page, which was established in 1857 by the British photographers Walter Bentley Woodbury and James Page. The photograph is from the collections of the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies in Leiden.