Women of Indochina (I)Quote:
From 1889 until 1907, the stamps issued for use in French Indochina were general colonial issues depicting allegorical figures, similar to those used in many other French colonies. In 1905, Paul Doumer, then Governor-General of French Indochina, called for distinctive postage stamps reflecting the local culture and peoples of the colony. As a result, in 1907 a new definitive series was issued, featuring young women representing different ethnic groups of French Indochina.
The set consists of seven different designs of women. It was designed by Puyplat, who based the portraits on actual photographs, and engraved by G. Johannet, although his name does not appear on the stamps.
On page 7 of this thread, I wrote about the 1907 series of Indochinese women, with particular emphasis on the photographic source of the Cambodian woman stamp of 75c. According to several contemporary newspapers, the photograph was taken in a brothel; see page 7 for further details.
For more than two decades, I have been trying to locate the original photographs that served as models for these stamps, and over the years I have managed to acquire several original postcards reproducing them.
My latest acquisition is the postcard showing the Khmer (Cambodian) woman whose photograph was used as the model for the 75c stamp.
Replies: 120 / Views: 14,207
Posted Yesterday 04:02 am
