Antiquarenbeurs Mechelen
Exhibitor
Dr. Ingo Fleisch ManuscriptumHauffstrasse 3
10317 Berlin
Germany
Contact
Dr. Ingo FleischPhone
+49 (0) 30-55 15 56 74 +49 (0) 30-55 15 56 74
Photo album from the visit of the Belgian royal couple to the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo. Photo album with 96 original photographs (each c. 9 x 12 cm), half leather, c. 35 x 27 cm, very good condition. The photographs were taken on the occasion of the visit of the Belgian royal couple ALBERT I (1875-1934) and ELISABETH GABRIELE (1876-1965) to the Belgian Congo in July 1928. The royal couple is often depicted surrounded by colonial officials, during visits and sightseeing, parades, defilees and receptions, travelling in a carriage and on a river steamer. There are also scenes with indigenous people, elephant rides, a church service and reception by the bishop and various clergymen, market scenes, buildings and occasional landscape shots. The photos are of very good quality, but do not look like the commissioned work of a professional photographer, but rather like private shots taken by a talented amateur.
The author of the photos must have belonged to the king's immediate circle or, more likely, was a high-ranking colonial official. On the back of the first sheet, he dedicates the album to his daughter: "A ma petite Anneke, en souvenir de la visite de L.L. Majestés Le Roi et la Reine à Stanleyville. Ton papa, François". - Historically significant, unique documents on Belgian colonial history and the history of the Belgian royal family.