Benutzer:MYR67/Artikelwerkstatt Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate

Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate (auch: Alfred William Amandus Plâté, A. W. A. Plâté; geb. 29. April 1862 in Hamburg; gest. 19. Oktober 1931 in Linz), war ein deutscher, in Sri Lanka (damals: Britisch-Ceylon) tätiger Fotograf.

Lebensweg

Werbung für das Photoatelier Plâté & Co. in Colombo, British Ceylon, 1898

Werbung für das Photoatelier Plâté & Co. in Colombo, British Ceylon, 1898

Werbung für das Photoatelier Plâté & Co. in Colombo, British Ceylon, 1897

Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate war ein Sohn des Hamburger Lithografen und Fotografen Heinrich Friedrich Plate (1824–1895) und dessen Ehefrau Elisabeth Petronella Streich (1827–1869). Der Fotograf Gustav Ferdinand Plate (auch: Gustavus Plâté, geb. 9. Juli 1854; gest. vor 9. August 1911) war sein älterer Bruder.

Bereits in jungen Jahren erlernte A. W. A. Plate von seinem Vater die Grundzüge der Fototechnik und des Fotografierens.

Am 2. Januar 1886 heiratete A. W. A. Plate im britischen Stepney (heute ein Stadtteil von London) die um 1861 herum geborene Clara Heinemann, die Tochter eines Bäckermeisters war.

Im Jahr 1887 arbeitete A.W.A. Plate in der fotografischen Abteilung der Colombo Apothecaries Company in Colombo, Sri Lanka,, ein 1883 von W. M. Smith und James Smith Finlay gegründetes Handelsunternehmen, das zunächst mit Öl und Spirituosen handelte, sich dann aber auch mit der Vervielfältigung und dem Verkauf von Fotografien befasste. und seit 1892 unter dem Namen Colombo Apothecaries Company firmierte. Im Jahr 1890 verließ A. W. A. Plate die Colombo Apothecaries Co.

Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate änderte die Schreibweise seines Nachnamens von „Plate“ zu „Plâté“. Wahrscheinlich ging es ihm dabei weniger darum, eine französische Herkunft zu suggerieren, als vielmehr darum, nicht-deutschen Menschen einen Anhaltspunkt für die richtige Aussprache seines Nachnamens zu geben und insbesondere bei Englischsprechenden eine Verwechslung mit dem englischen Wort plate (Bildtafel, Druckplatte, Schild, Teller usw.) zu vermeiden. Er gründete, gemeinsam mit seiner Ehefrau Clara Plâté, geborene Heinemann, das Unternehmen „Plâté & Co.“ mit einem kleinen Fotostudio im Bristol Hotel in Colombo, das recht erfolgreich wurde. Bald zog das Fotoatelier Plâté innerhalb Colombos vom Bristol Hotel in den Stadtteil Colpetty (Kollupitiya) in größere Räumlichkeiten um. Einer Werbeanzeige von 1906 kann entnommen werden, dass Plâté & Co. zu dieser Zeit bereits mehr als 70 Beschäftigte hatte, darunter zehn Europäer.

Es scheint, als habe das Ehepaar Plâté gelegentlich asiatische Tiere, die für den 1863 gegründeten Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg bestimmt waren, vorübergehend auf ihrem Grundstück beherbergt, so etwa Jung-Elefanten.

Nach 1893 wurde Herbert Heinemann, ein Bruder von Clara Plâté, geb. Heinemann, also A. W. A. Plâtés Schwager, Mitinhaber des Fotoateliers Plâté & Co. Das Fotounternehmen eröffnete Filialen, manche in Verbindung mit einem Bücherstand, etwa im Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, in Nuwara Eliya, einer im 19. Jahrhundert als Erholungsort für britische Kolonialbeamte gegründeten Ortschaft in den Bergen, und im Queen‘s Hotel in Kandy.

Nachdem A. W. A. Plate sich zur Ruhe gesetzt hatte, wurde im Jahr 1900 die Firma Plâté & Co. in eine Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (Ltd.) umgewandelt. Weitere Mitinhaber waren E. J. Hayward und C. W. Thompson.

Das Sortiment von Plâté Ltd. wurde um fotografische Geräte und Materialien erweitert. Um die selbe Zeit, Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, begann Plâté Ltd. auch damit, Reiseführer und Souvenir-Bücher mit Fotografien (oder mit nach Fotografien erstellten grafischen Abbildungen) herzustellen und zu vertreiben.

Das Unternehmen Plâté Ltd. stellte seine Fotos und Alben mit Aufnahmen von Britisch Ceylon auf der Weltausstellung 1893 in Chicago, auf der Pariser Weltausstellung von 1900 sowie auf der Weltausstellung 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, aus. Plâtés Fotografien von Ceylons Sehenswürdigkeiten wurden in das offizielle Handbuch über die Louisiana Purchase Exhibition von 1904 aufgenommen, das als Führer durch das Ausstellungsgebäude diente.

A. W. A. Plate war zumindest von Dezember 1902 bis April 1904 aktives Mitglied des Anglerclubs (Fishing Club) von Colombo.

Im Jahr 1907 erzeugte die Firma Plâté & Co. eine halbe Million Bildpostkarten pro Jahr. Viele der Plâté-Postkarten wurden in Deutschland gedruckt, Das Fotounternehmen verkaufte nicht nur Fotos von Ceylon, sondern acuh von Nord-Indien. insbesondere in Sachsen.

In den Jahren von 1910 bis 1923 führten zunächst Clara Plâté und ihr Bruder Herbert Heinemann das Unternehmen Plâté & Co., und später Herbert Heinemanns Wittwe.

Als das von Briten geführte, auf Ceylon ansässige Fotoatelier Skeen & Co. in Colombo seine Geschäftstätigkeit circa 1920 einstellte, übernahm einen großen Teil seines Fotobestandes wahrscheinlich die Firma Plâté Ltd.

In einer Beschreibung der Geschäftstätigkeiten der Firma Plâté & Co. von 1928 wird erwähnt, dass die Firma sich auch der Herstellung von Bewegtbild-Filmen zugewandt habe, die die lokale Geschichte, Folklore, Gebräuche und Trachten zum Gegenstand haben sollten,, aber es finden sich keine Belege dafür, dass es dazu tatsächlich gekommen ist.

Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plâté starb am 19. Oktober 1931 in Linz, Österreich.

Seine Witwe Clara Plâté lebte im Jahr 1934 in Tenterden in der englischen Grafschaft Kent.

Im Jahr 1961 ging das Eigentum an Plâté Ltd. auf Arthur P. Fonseka über, der zuvor viele Jahre lang Mitarbeiter dieses Unternehmens gewesen war.

Die Firma Plâté Limited besteht noch heute (2023) in der Galle Road in Colombo., als einziges der im 19. Jahrhundert auf Ceylon gegründeten Fotounternehmen.

Das Unternehmen unterhält eine Datenbank mit rund 5000 Negativen von Fotografien aus seiner eigenen Produktion. Es bewahrt darüber hinaus auch mehr als tausend eigene Glasnegative auf, die bisher noch nicht digital erschlossen sind, sowie eine Sammlung von etwa 6000 historischen Ansichtspostkarten aus eigener und fremder Produktion.

Familie

• Sohn des Hamburger Fotografen Heinrich Friedrich Plate (1824–1895)
• Bruder des Fotografen Gustav Ferdinand Plate (geb. 1854)

Zettelkasten

• Heinrich Friedrich Plate‘s son, Alfred William Amandus Plate (1858/59-1931), was born in Hamburg.

• Geburtsort: Hannover (vermutl.) Sterbeort: Linz

• On January 2nd, 1886, A.W.A. Plate married Clara Heinemann (born about 1861), daughter of Wilhelm Heinemann, a master baker, in the parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, Middlesex.

• It is evident that A.W.A. Plate from a very early age acquired his father’s photographic skills.

• Alfred William Amandus ging 1887 mit seiner Frau Clara Plâté nach Ceylon (Sri Lanka), wo sie als Werbefotografen 1890 in Colombo das Fotostudio A.W.A. Plâté & Co. gründeten.

• by 1887 A.W.A. Plâté worked in the photographic department of the Colombo Apothecaries Co.

• It seems Alfred William Amandus changed the spelling of his surname from “Plate” to “Plâté” in order to adapt the German name to a somewhat cognizable pronunciation of his name in English speaking circles. It was probably not intended to evoke a French origin of the name.

• In 1890, A.W.A. Plâté left the Colombo Apothecaries to found, together with his wife Clara Plâté, née Heinemann, the firm “Plâté & Co.” with a small studio at the Bristol Hotel, Colombo. The venture became a success

• the studio moved into more commodious premises at Colpetty which represented the headquarters of the firm.

• An advertisement published in 1906 [...] said that “ten Europeans and over 60 natives” were in their employ

• Apparently, Platé occasionally acted as intermediary for Hagenbeck, as in his large garden a few adolescent elephants entertained themselves

• Sometime after 1893 Herbert Heinemann, brother of Clara Plâté, was employed as managing copartner.

• Further branches of the firm were opened with a book-stall at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo,57 in Nuwara-Eliya (“Bristol Studio”) and, also with a book-stall, at the Queen‘s Hotel, Kandy.

• The firm became a limited private company in 1900 and the business was enlarged to concentrate on supplying photographic apparatus and material.

• At the beginning of the 20th century guide-books58 as well as several “souvenir guide-books” were produced by as well as after photographs taken by the company.

• On the demise of the firm of Skeen and Co. the stock of that business was possibly incorporated into Plâté's concern

• In 1907 we read: “Messrs. Plâté & Co.‘s output of picture post-cards now reaches half a million each year.”

• Many of the postcards were printed in Germany.

• The company not only produced and sold photographs from Ceylon, but also from Northern India.

• A.W.A. Plâté died on October 19th, 1931, at Linz, Austria.

• His wife, assisted by her brother, reportedly continued to conduct the affairs of the firm for a few more years. The company still exists under the name “Plâté Limited”. Address: 580, Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka.

• From 1910 until 1923, the company was run by Clara in partnership with her brother Herbert Heinemann and, later, his widow.

• Clara Plâté was living at Ratsberry Cottage, Tenterden, Kent, in 1934.

• In 1961, ownership of Plâté passed to Arthur P. Fonseka, a long-time employee of the company.

Rohstoffe und Quellen

Bautze, The photographic studios in Landscapes of Sri Lanka

S. 26:

5. Plâté & Co. Heinrich Friedrich Plate (1824-1895) from Walsrode (Lower Saxony, Germany), the father of the founder of Plâté & Co., was initially a lithographer before becoming a daguerreotypist and later, a photographer. In 1849 he founded with Franz Odenthal the lithographic institute “Plate & Odendahl” in Hamburg. Franz Odendahl was a daguerreotypist who had earlier founded his “Daguerreotyp Atelier” in the “Poststraße 4” on April 12th, 1849. In October 1856 H.F. Plate entered in partnership with F.W. Sans for an atelier that produced daguerreotypes at “Jungfernstieg No. 6” while keeping his earlier lithographic establishment at “Schauenburgerstraße 13”. On April 2nd, 1857, he opened the “Atelier für Daguerreotypie und Photographie” while still keeping his lithographic business. On June 13th, 1857, H.F. Plate announced the opening of a “Photographisches Atelier,” under the direction of H.O. Fielitz (died 1859). The latter left the atelier on May 15th, 1858 to join the “Stelznersche Atelier”. The production of ambrotypes and stereographs was announced by H.F. Plate on July 4th, 1857.48 From 1860 onwards H.F. Plate received several awards for his photographic work, such as “1. Preis” of the “Photographischer Verein zu Hamburg” and a silver medal following the “2nd exhibition of photographic works”, also in Hamburg. By the mid 1870ies a local branch was opened at “Bei der Stadtwassermühle no. 5.” Towards the end of his life, his studio was more centrally situated at “Große Bleichen 46.”49 H.F. Plate‘s son, Alfred William Amandus Plate (1858/59-1931), was born in Hamburg.

On January 2nd, 1886, A.W.A. Plate married Clara Heinemann (born about 1861), daughter of Wilhelm Heinemann, a master baker, in the parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, Middlesex.50 It is evident that A.W.A. Plate from a very early age acquired his father’s photographic skills. As mentioned earlier, by 1887 A.W.A. Plâté worked in the photographic department of the Colombo Apothecaries Co. It seems Alfred William Amandus changed the spelling of his surname from “Plate” to “Plâté” in order to adapt the German name to a somewhat cognizable pronunciation of his name in English speaking circles. It was probably not intended to evoke a French origin of the name. In 1890, A.W.A. Plâté left the Colombo Apothecaries to found, together with his wife Clara Plâté, née Heinemann, the firm “Plâté & Co.” with a small studio at the Bristol Hotel, Colombo. 51 The venture became a success, and the studio moved into more commodious premises at Colpetty which represented the headquarters of the firm. An advertisement published in 1906 informs: “Competent European artists in attendance”52, it is said that “ten Europeans and over 60 natives” 53 were in their employ, so that the same advertisement could claim “On Parle Français” and “Man Spricht Deutch [sic].”

S. 27:

After having left his “Atelier für Photographie u. Malerei” in Dortmund, Ostenhellweg 7-9, Emil Eduard Groote (1870-1948), who was to become the last official court photographer to the Siamese kings, taking the “Reichspostdampfer Braunschweig” went to Ceylon in May 1893, where he met A.W.A. Plâté: “Next morning I visited the photographer Platé [sic] from Hamburg, who ran a big business in Colombo. He received me very friendly, invited me to lunch and showed me everything about his company that interested me. [...] Apparently, Platé occasionally acted as intermediary for Hagenbeck,54 as in his large garden a few adolescent elephants entertained themselves in the part of the terrain which was less taken care of by tearing open stems of banana plants in order to reach the pulp inside. Soon, they would be conveyed by ship.”55 When looking at a photograph of the “Bristol Studio” at Colpetty, one can easily imagine a herd of young elephants in the garden behind the house.56

Sometime after 1893 Herbert Heinemann, brother of Clara Plâté, was employed as managing copartner. Further branches of the firm were opened with a book-stall at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo,57 in Nuwara-Eliya (“Bristol Studio”) and, also with a book-stall, at the Queen‘s Hotel, Kandy. At the beginning of the 20th century guide-books58 as well as several “souvenir guide-books” were produced by as well as after photographs taken by the company. 59 In 1907 we read: “Messrs. Plâté & Co.‘s output of picture post-cards now reaches half a million each year.”60 The company not only produced and sold photographs from Ceylon, but also from Northern India.61 A.W.A. Plâté died on October 19th, 1931, at Linz, Austria. His wife, assisted by her brother, reportedly continued to conduct the affairs of the firm for a few more years. The company still exists under the name “Plâté Limited”. Address: 580, Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka.62

Quelle: Joachim K. Bautze, The photographic studios in Landscapes of Sri Lanka – Early photography in Ceylon / Die Foto-Ateliers in Landscapes of Sri Lanka – Frühe Fotografie in Ceylon, 2013, Landscapes of Sri Lanka. Early Photography in Ceylon / Frühe Fotografie in Ceylon. For the / Für das Museum für Asiatische Kunst and the / und die Gesellschaft für indo-asiatische Kunst Berlin e.V. Berlin: Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 23 Pages; Edited by / Herausgegeben von Raffael Dedo Gadebusch, https://www.academia.edu/38520137/The_photographic_studios_in_Landscapes_of_Sri_Lanka_Early_photography_in_Ceylon_Die_Foto_Ateliers_in_Landscapes_of_Sri_Lanka_Fr%C3%BChe_Fotografie_in_Ceylon?auto=download . Siehe auch: archive.org, Books to borrow, https://archive.org/details/landscapesofsril0000unse/page/26/mode/2up?q=%22Heinrich+Friedrich+Plate%22

Landscapes of Sri Lanka: Early photography in Ceylon (books to borrow), https://archive.org/details/landscapesofsril0000unse/page/26/mode/2up?q=%22Heinrich+Friedrich+Plate%22

Falconer, A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia

John Falconer, British Library A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia

Commercial, Sri Lanka Firm founded in 1890 by A. W. A. and Clara Plâté in a small studio in the Bristol Hotel, Colombo; moved to larger premises in Colpetty, Colombo in 1892.

‘Mr Heinemann joined the firm as managing partner and the business continued to steadily expand, with the result that the present staff of the establishment comprises ten Europeans and over 60 natives. Besides their Colpetty studio and several others in Colombo, Messrs Plâté have a branch establishment at Nuwara Eliya ... and, in addition, book-stalls at the Queen’s Hotel, Kandy, and the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. The Colpetty studio and office practically represent the headquarters of the firm, and here are located extensive work-rooms, dark-rooms, show-rooms and other adjuncts to a photographic establishment, in addition to the spacious studio, reckoned to be one of the finest in the east’[1]

The firm became a limited private company in 1900 and the business was enlarged to concentrate on supplying photographic apparatus and material. In 1907 the firm had an annual output of half a million[?] postcards. Probably took over the stock of Skeen and Co. Still trading [1999].

A. W. A. Plâté was dead by 1920; Clara Plâté was living at Ratsberry Cottage, Tenterden, Kent, in 1934.

Footnotes

1. Arnold Wright, Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon (London, 1907)

John Falconer, British Library, A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia, https://luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/A_W_A__Plate/

Dumbarton Oaks, Plâté (Plate) & Cie

Colombo, Sri Lanka (Photographer, Publisher)

Plâté (Plate) & Cie was founded in 1890 by the German A. W. A. (Alfred William Amandus) Plâté (ca. 1859–1931) and his wife, Clara, who had traveled to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Enthralled by the natural splendor and scenic beauty of the island and its ancient and diverse cultural heritage, they decided to pursue photography as a career. The original firm was in a small studio in the Bristol Hotel, Colombo, and moved to larger premises in Colpetty, Colombo in 1892. From 1910 until 1923, the company was run by Clara in partnership with her brother Herbert Heinemann and, later, his widow. In 1961, ownership of Plâté passed to Arthur P. Fonseka, a long-time employee of the company. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, many of the Plâté photographs were issued as postcards. By 1907, the company was producing half a million postcards annually. Many of the postcards were printed in Germany.

Dumbarton Oaks, Plâté (Plate) & Cie, Research Library and Collection, https://www.doaks.org/research/library-archives/dumbarton-oaks-archives/collections/ephemera/names/plate-ltd

University of Cambridge, Views in Ceylon [i.e. Sri Lanka], 1890s

A.W.A. Plâté and Co.

Founded in 1890 by A.W.A. Plâté and his wife Clara in a studio in the Bristol Hotel, Colombo, the business moved to larger premises in Colpetty in 1892. In the following year a studio was also opened at Nuwera Eliya and a bookstall in the Queen's Hotel, Kandy. The firm became a private limited company in 1900 and was enlarged to include the sale of postcards, photographic equipment, apparatus and materials. On the demise of the firm of Skeen and Co. the stock of that business was possibly incorporated into Plâté's concern. It has not been determined when Plâté and Co. ceased trading, but the firm was certainly still in business in the late 1960s.

University of Cambridge, Digital Library, Views in Ceylon [i.e. Sri Lanka], 1890s (Y303G), https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-Y-00303-G/1

Macmillan, Extract from Seaports of India and Ceylon

S. 449:

PLATE, LTD., Photographers, Publishers, Booksellers, Art House Decorators, etc., Colpetty.

By no firm in the East is the art of photography in all its branches more efficiently demonstrated than by Messrs. Plâté, Ltd., whose Colpetty premises, originally a private residence, have been gradually enlarged and adapted to the requirements of the business, which now presents a very noteworthy combination of art and utility that has evolved as the natural outcome of the firm’s continuous endeavour to exemplify the superlative in all their operations. The evolution through which photography has gone during recent years is amongst the wonders of modern science. The work of Messrs. Plâté, Ltd., in that connection can only be adequately realised by actual inspection of their processes and results. Their portraits, including those of Royalty and many celebrities throughout the world, are characterised by all the details inseparable from the highest phases of the art. The numerous examples of their ability in depicting the best expression of their sitters in positions and poses best adapted to each individual seems to have behind them much psychological intuition, as well as very great experience of studio routine. Specially noteworthy are the firm’s beautiful enlargements and hand-coloured photographs, showing Nature’s wealth of chromatic loveliness on land and sea. They have the largest selection in existence of photographs of all parts of Ceylon, and transact an important trade in commercial photographs of every kind. The supplies of Messrs. Plâté, Ltd., include everything for photographers and they are sole agents in Ceylon for Kodak, Ltd. They are also agents for the Autotype Fine Art Co., Ltd., London; The Platinotype Co.; Ross, Ltd., London; Ilford, Ltd., London; The Adhesive Dry Mounting Co.; The Autotype Co., London; W. W. Curtis, Ltd.; and Fine Art Printers, Coventry, England.

S. 450:

Messrs. Plâté, Ltd., recently turned their attention to the manufacture of motion pictures, and are now busily engaged in developing that branch of trade, which will include the production of films dealing with local history, folklore, customs and current events, etc.

The firm are likewise booksellers and publishers, and amongst their productions are the well-known Plâté's Colombo Directory and the popular book Ceylon, which deals in a very interesting and comprehensive manner with the island. At their Colpetty premises they have a circulating library containing more than 4,000 volumes.

Another very highly appreciated department of their business is the one devoted to all kinds of artistic house decorations. They are also manufacturers of furniture, and hold themselves in readiness at all times to submit designs for special requirements, or to carry out customers’ own specifications in any class of wood work or upholstery. In that connection they are agents in Ceylon for Hall’s Sanitary Washable Distemper and the “Keystone” oil paints. Their versatility in the manufacture of picture frames of every description is the natural outcome of their photographic activities, and their stock of mouldings is well calculated to meet the most diverse needs. They have a departmentfor printing, and are manufacturers of all kinds of illustration blocks.

The business was started in 1890 in a small studio at the Bristol Hotel by Mr. A. W. A. Plâté, who was joined in partnership soon afterwards by Mr. H. H. Heinemann. After the advent of the latter gentleman, it developed very rapidly, and when picture post-cards came into vogue, the firm began turning these out in enormous numbers as they still do. After the retirement of Mr. Plâté the firm was incorporated in 1900 with Mr. Heinemann as managing director, the other directors now being Mrs. Clara Plâté, E. J. Hayward, and C. W. Thompson. Branches of the business are established at Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, and at Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

The company's telegraphic address is “Platewalk,” and the codes used are the ABC 5th edition and Bentley's.

Allister Macmillan, Extract from Seaports of India and Ceylon, Historical Descriptive Commercial Industrial Facts, Figures, and Resources, compiled and edited by Allister Macmillan, S. 450, Asian Educational Services, 2005, New Delhi, Chennai, https://books.google.de/books?id=OSNFbEPXoZQC&dq=%22clara+plate%22+ceylon&pg=PA450&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clara%20plate%22%20ceylon&f=false

Allister Macmillan, Extract from: „Seaports of India and Ceylon“. Extract of pages between 397–490 of the complete book. First Published: 1928, London, https://archive.org/details/extractfromseapo00alli/page/448/mode/2up

Stambler, Maintaining the Photographic Legacy of Ceylon, TransAsia Photography, Volume 4, Issue 1: Archives, Fall 2013

A steady flow of customers enters the compound of Plâté, Limited, set back from the bustle of Galle Road, the main thoroughfare in Colombo, Sri Lanka. [...]

[...] the photography department that occupies an entire upper floor. As they arrive, they are faced with walls covered with framed historical photographs of Ceylon, as the country was known until 1972. Down the center of the room is a long row of open bins, with cabinets beneath, that contain many photographs of the people and places of Ceylon. These bins and storage cabinets, however, represent just a small fraction of the archive of Plâté’s visual record of the country. Stored on the floor above are glass plates from earlier photographic processes, as well as massive camera equipment used in the past. On shelves in the private section, on the ground floor, are albums of postcards, one of the most commercially prevalent aspects of the Plâté firm and photography in Ceylon throughout the beginning of the twentieth century.

[...] When Plâté & Co. opened for business in 1890, it vied as a commercial enterprise against an array of established photography firms, headed by resident colonials or by local entrepreneurs.[3] The intense competition forced even many of the largest and most prolific out of business; now Plâté is the sole continuing nineteenth-century photography company. Its extensive historical holdings sets it apart as well, as the firm has been deliberately adding to its collection in an attempt to amass a Sri Lankan archive of photographs of Ceylon.

[...] Photographers were drawn to the visual complexity of Ceylon’s cultural diversity. Its numerous ethnic groups, each with distinctive clothing, provided one viable commercial approach that produced portraits in a broad array. Indeed, the Skeens, a major photographic and printing presence through several iterations of family and firm, advertised that one of their specialties was “native types.”[5] Beyond the Hindu, Buddhist and Moor communities, photographers found a ready market for portraits of the Veddahs, indigenous people who wore few clothes, and the lower-caste Rodiya women, who left their breasts uncovered. The Plâté firm also participated in this exploitive commercial market, posing bare-breasted women seductively for its postcards.

[...] The company founded by Charles T. Scowen produced a copious photographic output from the mid-1870s into the 1890s, but eventually succumbed to the intense competition among businesses that had sprung up in response to the rapidly increasing demand. Scowen & Co. was not able to survive in this environment, and its stock was acquired by the Colombo Apothecaries Company, the business that first employed A. W. A. Plâté. This eclectic enterprise succeeded in producing photographs for a time at least partly because of its broad commercial base, a model that was embraced when the Plâtés established their own firm.

[...] For sheer quantity, though, Plâté has the most extensive holdings of the colonial era. Other private collections are specific to the interests or opportunities of the collectors;[8] Plâté attempts to be somewhat wide-ranging, and has been adding to its collection whenever possible. Its direction now is to solidify its own legacy, purchasing postcards and negatives to amass a definitive archive of the firm’s work, paying only peripheral attention to the output of other photographers. Thus, there are few images of botanical specimens and ruins, prevalent in the early decades in the work of such photographers as Skeen, Scowen and Lawton; rather, there are many images of busy city streets.

[...] The firm uses its collection of more than five thousand negatives to create affordable (but not inexpensive) copies on request. A record of these images is maintained in a computerized database. There is also a collection of more than a thousand glass plates, in three sizes. Documentation of the content of these is not currently available.

The present owners also collect postcards of some of the other, now defunct firms. Of the more than six thousand postcards in their possession, from all the companies that produced them [...]

Plâté, Limited

In more than a hundred and twenty years, Plâté & Co. has had barely a handful of owners. From the original Plâtés, A. W. A. and his wife, Clara, who were in control of the company from its 1890 founding until 1917, the business was transferred to Clara’s brother, H. H. Heinemann, and later to his widow. She sold the firm to Arthur P. Fonseka in 1961, and it is now run by Arthur’s children. Despite its emphasis on photography, both historical and current, it continues to be diversified, most likely the consequence of a time when such diversity was essential for economic success.

Housed in a compound that was formerly the Fonseka family home, photography services occupy much of the main building. The structure set farther back off the street contains the equipment and materials used to create reproductions of the historic photographs, employing the original negatives when possible. Because these negatives have been used for so many years, not all are in good condition, in which case digital reproductions are made, so quality is inconsistent. Although in the past the firm had studios in the island’s important commercial centers, now all services are provided from the Colombo location.

(Advertisement for Plâté & Co. in George J. A. Skeen, A Guide to Colombo: A Handbook of Information, Useful Alike to the Visitor and Resident. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/t/tapic/x-7977573.0004.105-00000004/7977573.0004.105-00000004 )

The Plâté firm also was instrumental in popularizing photography on the island (fig. 4). At one time it was the sole agent for Kodak in Ceylon.[10] In 1916 the company offered a monetary prize for the best amateur photograph developed in its studios. This kind of support of amateur photographers not only expanded the market for the company’s services, but also created an acceptance of photography, particularly portraits, as an integral aspect of life on the island.[11] Photographs and Beyond

In addition to producing and marketing individual photographs, the Plâté company made efforts to publicize its work to the wider world through exhibitions and publications in order to enhance its business endeavors. It mounted exhibits at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900, and at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, an indication of its global awareness. Other major photography firms exhibited as well, to demonstrate the wide range of the island’s commercial interests. Plâté’s photographs of Ceylon’s sights were included in the official handbook that served as a guide to the 1904 exhibition building,[12] as well as in other local publications of the period.

Plâté & Co. also published its own books of photographs, with multiple printings over the course of the first several decades of the twentieth century. Copies of one of the company’s most reprinted books, One Hundred Best Views of Ceylon,[13] can still be found for sale by specialty antique-book purveyors. This book, after a brief introduction, consists solely of photographs and captions, in contrast to more extensive guides for tourists to Ceylon (with photographs) put out by others of the island’s photography firms.[14] Fig. 5.Plâté & Co. Veddahs. Photo courtesy of the collection of Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt, TR2007.2823.70, Sarasota, Florida.

[...] The firm still has original albums entitled Tea Industry Pictures, produced in the 1890s, which document the various processes involved in the production of tea (picking, drying, sorting, packing), and views of the research laboratories and various other buildings on the extensive tea estates. Several additional versions of compilations of photographs were published, including one commemorating the visit of the Prince of Wales to Ceylon in 1922.[15] Plâté also published books containing its photographs of India,[16] possibly designed to compete with those taken by the Skeen firm.[17]

Although a focus of its print output was the packaging of its own photographs, the company produced other publications as well. For example, the handbook of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya was illustrated mostly with photographs by others. In contrast, the photographs in Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources, compiled and published by Plâté Limited in 1924 (but “produced” by The Colombo Apothecaries Company Limited Press) were mainly those by Plâté. These photographs accompanied essays from local experts on aspects of life in Ceylon, with more attention paid to “The Rubber Industry” (nineteen pages of text and charts, with eleven photographs) than to “Ceylon’s Historic Ruins” (five pages of text, two photographs). The company also published an alphabet book for children with rhymes of stereotypical attitudes toward Ceylon’s various ethnic groups, and another of fairy tales and legends.[18]

It was reported that the firm intended to produce motion pictures about Ceylon,[19] but there is no evidence that these efforts came to fruition. Plâté also kept a circulating library for the planter community. Although these activities are, in some cases, only peripherally related to photography, most of them are concerned with documenting the culture and heritage of Ceylon, consistent with Plâté’s photographic products.

Plâté’s Postcards

The most extensive result of Plâté & Co.’s photographic efforts was postcards, a popular trend that soared at the very end of the nineteenth century. The timing of its founding, in 1890, was serendipitous for its continuity, as it was able to build much of its business model on postcard production. Even though other companies had been producing large quantities of photographs for several decades, the Plâtés were able to capture a new market, one based on this rising demand for postcards. In this regard, the Plâté firm was the most prolific. By 1907 it was producing half a million postcards annually.[20] This was a time when postcards were fashionable in Europe and its colonies, due to low postage rates and an increase in tourism tied to the peak of the imperial system. These combined forces prompted the sending and collecting of postcards not only by visitors to the island but also by military personnel, civil servants, missionaries, and armchair travelers throughout various countries.

Unfortunately, nothing is known of the photographers who took the postcard images, but the geographic scope of their work stretched across the island, from Jaffna in the north to Galle in the south. Portraits, landscapes, cityscapes: All were dispersed as postcards throughout the British Empire and elsewhere. Specific dates are for the most part unknown, but the postcards themselves provide some evidence in their postmarks and written messages.

[...] Europe had the best reproduction and printing technology to fulfill the postcard demand at the turn of the twentieth century, so Plâté’s stock of negatives was sent to the Continent, and the postcards were then shipped back to Ceylon. The reverse side of the postcard in fig. 10 says, “PRINTED IN SAXONY.” This was good business practice at the time, but it had unfortunate long-term consequences, as the original negatives were not returned and many have since been lost. Shamalica Fonseka, one of the present owners, has been making a concerted effort to document the firm’s early production, and to buy back its original negatives and as complete a set of postcards as she can find.

[...] Where earlier photographers and companies focused on the “exotic” elements of Ceylon, the output of Plâté during a period of considerable development presents quite a different impression. Photographs of snake charmers, “devil dancers,” and half-naked men and women were still taken and sold, but the company also documented developing economic forces, particularly the thriving tea industry. Still other photographs showed changes to Ceylon’s landscapes and cityscapes resulting from British rule, such as new golf courses and busy Colombo streets with wide avenues and architecturally significant buildings.

[...] There is virtually no information on the specific Plâté photographers, nor on how they were employed by the business.

[...] There are many scenic views but it seems that, overall, the photographers employed by Plâté did not have the compositional skills and sensitivity of the earlier generation of photographers, such as Joseph Lawton and Charles T. Scowen. Additionally, the photographic and postcard subject matter in the Plâté oeuvre covers a less expansive content than that produced by the earlier firms: There are few photographs of archaeological sites and botanical specimens, two important content areas in the Ceylon visual record that were peripheral to Plâté’s focus, and possibly less commercially viable.

Benita Stambler, Maintaining the Photographic Legacy of Ceylon TransAsia Photography, Volume 4, Issue 1: Archives, Fall 2013 Permalink: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0004.105

Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of 19th-Century Photography“, „Ceylon“

• Page 287: With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the island [= Ceylon/ Sri Lanka] became an increasingly attainable and popular tourist destination and the number of photographic studios increased in response to the demand for visual souvenirs. Among the most distinguished of these was the studio of Charles T. Scowen, who opened his first studio in Kandy in around 1875, with a Colombo studio by 1883. While Scowen’s choice of subjects was generally comparable to that of Skeen and Co, early work from his studio is characterised by the particularly fine quality of his printing: this is particularly evident in the very beautiful flower and plant studies which appear to have been a speciality of the firm (appropriately, given the proximity of the great botanical garden at Peradeniya to his Kandy studio). Scowen’s stock appears to have been acquired by the Colombo Apothecaries Company in the early 1890s, and continued to be marketed by them, but by the last decade of the century the majority of commercial firms were producing standard tourist views and postcards of little freshness or originality. While a number of these studios — such as A. W. A. Platé & Co, founded in Colombo in 1890 and surviving up to the present — remained successful commercial enterprises, the photographic vision of the small group of early photographers who had documented the island’s landscapes, archaeological heritage and economic development had by the turn of the century become largely exhausted.

Encyclopedia of nineteenth-century photography, https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofni0001unse/page/286/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

John Falconer, „Ceylon“, in: John Hannavy (Hrsg.), „Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography“, Routledge-Verlag, New York/ London, 2008, 1630 Seiten, ISBN 978-0-415-97235-2, S. 286–288, http://home.fa.utl.pt/~cfig/Anima%E7%E3o%20e%20Cinema/Fotografia/Enciclopedia%20of%20the%2019th%20Century%20Photography.pdf ; http://phsc.ca/camera/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Encyclopedia-of-19th-Century-Photography.pdf ; https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofni0001unse/page/286/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22 ;

A.W.A. Plate war Mitglied im Fishing Club, 1902 & 1904

Page 490: At the annual general meeting of the Ceylon Fishing Club held at the Hill Club on Dec. 20, 1902, at 3 p.m., Mr. E M de Coucy Short presided, when there were also present Messrs G G Koss Clarke, F Dew, John Eraser, A W A Plate, C H Bagot, and J Wickwar.

Tropical agriculturist and magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 1. Januar 1903, S. 490, https://archive.org/details/tropicalagricult2219ceyl/page/490/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

Page 671: The Managing Committee of the Fishing Club are adopting the suggestions made in the paper read by Mr. Murly at a meeting of the Fishing Club on the 13th ultimo, to put in 20 large Rainbow trout into the hatchery to secure ovm. Mr A W A Plate was deputed by the Committee to fish for the required number of trout with Mr. Murly. The trout now have been caught and are at present in the stew pond where they were put in under the supervision of Mr. Murly, after the pond had been properly prepared for them.

Tropical agriculturist and magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 1. April 1904, S. 671, https://archive.org/details/tropicalagricult2319ceyl/page/670/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

Wright (Hrsg.), 20th Century Impressions of Ceylon, 1907

S. 468:

Plâté & Co.

This well-known firm of photographic artists was originally established in 1890, under the title of A. W. A. Plate, in a small studio at the Bristol Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Plate then representing the whole stall. From the very outset the business progressed rapidly, and in 1892 the proprietors moved into more commodious

S. 469:

premises at Colpetty. Soon after this Mr. Heinemann joined the firm as managing partner, and the business continued to steadily expand, with the result that the present staff of the establishment comprises ten Europeans and over 60 natives. Besides their Colpetty studio and several others in Colombo, Messrs. Plate have a branch establishment at Nuwara Eliya, in the hill-country, and, in addition, book-stalls at the Queen's Hotel, Kandy, and the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. The Colpetty studio and office practically represent the headquarters of the firm, and here are located extensive work-rooms, dark-rooms, show-rooms and other adjuncts to a photographic establishment, in addition to the spacious studio, reckoned one of the finest in the East. On these premises almost all the printing and finishing work of the firm is carried out, and thence pictures are despatched to all parts of the world.

The firm is now styled Plâté & Co., and is the property of a small private company, the alteration from the original style having been effected in 1900. In connection with this change the scope of the business was considerably enlarged, and the firm embarked in dealing largely (both wholesale and retail) in all kinds of photographic supplies and apparatus. A little later, when picture postcards came so universally into vogue, the firm again extended its trade to embrace this new line of business, being the first in the island to supply the demand for this novelty. Messrs. Plate & Co.’s output of picture post-cards now reaches half a million each year. Their numerous series of views of Ceylon are well known, and are ever in increasing demand.

The portrait work of this firm has gained a wide reputation, and they have, during the past sixteen years, photographed many celebrities (including members of the Royal Family) from all parts of the globe. The variety and high quality of the photographic pictures make the galleries at the different studios well worth a visit.

Arnold Wright (Hrsg.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, S. 468 (unten rechts) https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22966/page/n473/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon. Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources, edited by Arnold Wright, London, Durban, Colombo, Perth (W.A.), Singapore, Hong Kong, Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company, Ltd., 1907, Neuausgabe: Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 1999, S. 468/469, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22966/page/n473/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

Treffer bei archive.org

• Zwei Fotos von Plate in: Agriculture in the tropics; an elementary treatise, by Willis, J. C. (John Christopher), 1868-1958, https://archive.org/details/agricultureintro0000unse/page/62/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22, https://archive.org/details/agricultureintro0000unse/page/66/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• Zwei Fotos von Plate in: Wide World Magazine, https://archive.org/details/wideworldmagazin01lond/page/522/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• Zwei Fotos von Plate in: women of all nations by t. athol joyce, m.a and n.w. thomas, m.a. https://archive.org/details/womenofallnation0000tath/page/610/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22 ; siehe auch: https://archive.org/details/womenofallnation0001tath/page/608/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• Ein Foto: A Tamil Beauty, Plate XXV, Opposite page 86, in: Ceylon, a handbook for the resident and the traveller by Willis, J. C. (John Christopher), 1868-1958, https://archive.org/details/ceylonhandbookfo00will/page/86/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• World's Columbian Exposition, Official Handbook and Catalogue of the Ceylon Court, with map and illustrations, 1893, S. 133, https://archive.org/details/OfficialHandbookAndCatalogueOfTheCeylonCourt/page/n181/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• World's Columbian Exposition, Official handbook & catalogue of the Ceylon courts : with map and illustrations, https://archive.org/details/officialhandboo01goog/page/n235/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• The Paris Exhibition, 1900, Official handbook & catalogue of the Ceylon Court : with maps and illustrations, https://archive.org/details/officialhandbook00unse/page/n7/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• Werbeanzeige: A. W. A. Plâté & Co., Advertisement, Amateur Photographers Calling at Colombo, S. 181, in: Thomas Cook and Son, India, Burma, and Ceylon : information for travellers and residents, with four maps, London 1897, S. 181, https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.03045/page/181/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

• Buchspende: Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute, Donations to the Library, 1905, Page 563, Messrs. A. W. A. Plate & Co., Ceylon. — Souvenir of Ceylon, 1905. https://archive.org/details/no8journalofroyalco36royauoft/page/562/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

https://archive.org/search?query=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22&sin=TXT

Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND)

Link zu diesem Datensatz: https://d-nb.info/gnd/1257712608 Person: Plâté, Alfred William Amandus Geschlecht: männlich Andere Namen: Plâté, Alfred William; Plâté, A. W. A. Quelle: (Stand: 17.05.2022): https://en.everybodywiki.com/Alfred_William_Amandus_Plate (Stand: 11.07.2022): http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/A_W_A__Plate/ Zeit: Lebensdaten: 1859-1931 (Geburtsjahr ca.) Land: Deutschland (XA-DE); Großbritannien (XA-GB); Sri Lanka (XB-LK) Geografischer Bezug: Geburtsort: Hannover (vermutl.) Sterbeort: Linz Wirkungsort: London Wirkungsort: Colombo Beruf(e): Fotograf Weitere Angaben: Alfred William Amandus ging 1887 mit seiner Frau Clara Plâte nach Ceylon (Sri Lanka), wo sie als Werbefotografen 1890 in Colombo das Fotostudio A.W.A. Plâté & Co. gründeten. Beziehungen zu Organisationen: A.W.A. Plâté & Co.

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND), Personen-ID 1257712608, „Plâté, Alfred William Amandus“, https://d-nb.info/gnd/1257712608

Ancestry.com

Achtung! Es gibt offenbar einen Alfred William Amandus Plate, der am 23. Juni 1893 in Hamburg als Sohn von Luise Maria Dorothea Plate und August Ferdinand Wilhelm Plate geboren wurde. Dies kann NICHT der hier behandelte Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate sein, denn dieser wurde um 1859 geboren, also rund 34 Jahre früher, und war der Sohn von Heinrich Friedrich Plate (1824–1895) und Elisabeth Petronella Streich (1827–1869).

anno.onb.ac.at: Linzer Tagblatt etc.

Am 13. Oktober 1931 berichtet das Linzer Tagblatt, dass Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate „im 70. Lebensjahr“ verstorben sei und dass seine Einäscherung am 14. Oktober 1931 stattfinden solle.

Schlussfolgerungen:

a) Das Sterbedatum „19. Oktober 1931“ kann also nicht stimmen! Vielleicht war es der 9.? Ich suche weiter!

b) Die Formulierung „im 70. Lebensjahr verstorben“ bedeutet ja mit anderen Worten, dass er an seinem Todestag im Jahr 1931 sein 69. Lebensjahr bereits vollendet hatte --> das belegt wieder das Geburtsjahr 1862!

Hier der Link: https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19311013&query=%22Pl%c3%a2t%c3%a9%22&ref=anno-search&seite=9 (linke Seite, ganz unten)

Bereits im April 1913 berichtete dieselbe Zeitung sehr ausführlich über einen Lichtbildervortrag des Herrn Alfred Plate, der 21 Jahre auf Ceylon gelebt habe und mittlerweile in Linz wohne. Schlussfolgerungen:

a) Er war nur 21 Jahre auf Ceylon, d. h. bis ca. 1911/1912

b) Er war also schon viele Jahre vor seinem Tod in Linz (belegbar ab April 1913)

Hier der Link: https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19130411&query=%22Alfred+W.+A.+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=5 (linke Spalte)

---

Nachtrag. Todesfälle. In Linz: [...] Herr Alfred Plate, Privat, im 70. Lebensjahre. Die Veraschung findet Mittwoch, den 14. ds. um 2 Uhr nachmittags im Krematorium Linz statt

Tagblatt (Linz) Nr. 236, Di., 13. Oktober 1931, S. 9, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19311013&query=%22Pl%c3%a2t%c3%a9%22&ref=anno-search&seite=9

---

(Amateur-Photographenverein in Linz.) Dieser Verein bot am Dienstag den 8. d. M., abends 8 Uhr, im kleinen Volksgartensaal seinen Mitgliedern und Gästen einen sehr interessanten Lichtbilderabend. Es war das Vereinsmitglied Herr Alfred W. A. Plate gewonnen worden, der Bilder aus Ceylon zeigte und mit den nötigen Textworten versah. Bilder und Text waren dadurch wertvoll geworden, weil Herr Plate selbst durch 21 Jahre in Ceylon lebte, Land und Leute in eingehender Weise studieren konnte und somit nicht nur durch die Lichtbilder selbst, sondern auch durch das Wort, das er dazu gab, diesen Bildern Leben einhauchte, die überdies von ihm selbst aufgenommen worden sind. Es lohnte sich sehr, diesen Ausflug nach Ceylon mitzumachen, der vom Hafen in Colombo, einer der größten Hafen der Welt, seinen Ausgang nahm. Im Hotel Galle Face in Colombo stehen 400 Zimmer für die Reisenden bereit und hat man sich dort gestärkt, dann geht's an die Besichtigung von Colombo, einer teils sehr modernen Stadt, mit der schönen Hauptstraße, dem prachtvollen Hindu-Tempel, dem Unionplatz, dem Strand mit Schifferbooten usw. Weiter sahen wir herrliche Küstenansichten, kühne Eisenbahnbauten und die Stadt Kandy, in der gerade eine große buddhistische Prozession wallt, das Bibliotheksgebäude der Buddhisten, das ganz im Wasser eingebaut ist und großen Zuspruch findet. Die dankenswerten Erläuterungen, die Herr Plate gab, waren von besonderem Werte, als er verschiedene Typen aus Ceylon brachte und mehrere Personen sozusagen vorstellte, darunter den buddhisttschen Hohenpriester Samangusan, der bereits 85 Jahre zählt, hochgebildet und belesen ist und nicht weniger als 32 lebende und tote Sprachen beherrscht. Dieser Priester spricht auch ein fließendes Deutsch. Bei einer Gruppe von Singhalesen-Kindern machte Herr Plate auf einen 16jährigen Jüngling aufmerksam, der in Ceylon bereits eine einflußreiche Stellung einnimmt. Dieser Knabe wurde aber in Hamburg, als das Elternpaar bei Hagenbeck engagiert war, geboren und wurde dort auf den Namen Bismarck getauft; Frauenschönheiten konnte man kennen lernen, aber auch verschiedene wilde Stämme, wie Singhalesen usw., darunter vortreffliche Bogenschützen. Ueber die Vegetation und ebenso über die Bodenprodukte erfuhr man verschiedene Details und im Bilde sah man, wie Kautschuk, Graphit, Tee, Reis usw. gewonnen werden. Auch der Tierwelt, wie Elefanten, Büffel usw., wurde nicht vergessen. Eine kolossale Ausdehnung besitzt der bei Colombo befindliche botanische Garten, „Paradies" genannt, in dem sich alle Pflanzen, Obstgattungen, Bäume und Sträucher aus der ganzen Welt vorfinden. Wir können nicht alles nacherzählen, was Herr Plate, der dermalen in Linz sein Domizil aufgeschlagen hat, über Ceylon in Bild und Wort geschildert hat; er hat jedenfalls den Zuhörern, die ihm lebhaften Beifall spendeten, ein großes Vergnügen bereitet. Die Bilder, die sich durch große Schärfe und Plastik auszeichneten. wurden von Herrn Ernst Fürböck projiziert.

(Linzer) Tages-Post, Nr. 83, Fr., 11. April 1913, S. 5, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19130411&query=%22Alfred+W.+A.+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=5

---

Auch 1928, 1927, 1926 und 1925 hielt Alfred Wilhelm Amandus Plate solche Vorträge, sogar auf Englisch:

• https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19281025&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=9
• https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=lvb&datum=19270220&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=6 (hier wird A. W. A. Plate als „Plantagenbesitzer“ bezeichnet)
• https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19260327&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=4
• https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19251108&query=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=7

---

Kaufmännischer Verein. Donnerstag, den 25. Oktober l. J., findet ein Lichtbildervortrag „Leben und Treiben auf Ceylon" statt. Der Vortragende, Herr Alfred Plate, lebte 21 Jahre auf der Insel Ceylon und ist somit ein genauer Kenner der dortigen Verhältnisse, wodurch der Vortrag besonderes Interesse gewinnt. Anschließend Verträge des Vereinsorchesters. 480

Tagblatt (Linz), Do., 25. Oktober 1928, S. 9, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19281025&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=9

---

Aus den Vereinen Kathol. Gesellenverein Sonntag, 20 Febr., 8 Uhr, Lichtbildervortrag des Herrn Plantagenbesitzers Alfred Plate über seinen Aufenthalt in Ceylon. (3202)

Linzer Volksblatt, 20. Februar 1927, S. 6, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=lvb&datum=19270220&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=6

---

(Pictures of Ceylon. — Verein für christl. Volksbildung) Lichtbildervortrag über Ceylon in englischer Sprache. Freitag, 26. d. M., 8 Uhr abends, Ländlersaal. Der Vortragende, Alfred Plate, lebte lange Zeit in Ceylon und schildert Land und Leute aus eigener Anschauung. Karten im Preßverein. 601

(Linzer) Tages-Post, 27. März 1926, S. 4, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19260327&query=%22Alfred+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=4

---

Lichtbildervortrag über Ceylon. Ueber Einladung des ersten oberösterreichischen Landesvereines für Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde in Linz „Nymphaea" hielt dessen Ehren-Mitglied Herr A. W. A. Plate am 5. November 1925, abends 8 Uhr, im kleinen Volksgartensaale einen interessanten Lichtbildervortrag über Ceylon. Der Vortragende, welcher durch 21 Jahre auf der britischen Insel Ceylon im Osten der Südspitze Vorderindiens als Apotheker, Photograph und Plantagenbesitzer gelebt hat, unterstützte seinen Vortrag mit 82 prachtvollen Diapositiven. Durch die vielen prächtigen Bilder führte er die zahlreichen Zuhörer, welche den Saal und die Galerie füllten, in ein Zauberland, das ob seiner landschaftlichen Pracht und seiner herrlichen Vegetation mit Recht als Paradies bezeichnet wird. Herrliche Bilder, von der Hafenstadt Colombo mit dem Hauptpostamt und Eingang zum Königspalast ausgehend, führen uns ins Innere des Landes, zeigen uns Land und Leute in ihrem Tun und Treiben sowie die Pflanzenwelt in ihrer blühenden Pracht. Die Einwohner, hauptsächlich Singhalesen, sind ein schöner, kräftiger Menschenschlag. Wir sehen die verschiedenen Buddha-Tempel, Tempelelefanten, das Einfangen wilder Elefantenherden, den Urwald in seiner überwältigenden Größe und Pracht mit Ureinwohnern von Ceylon, die Veddahs, die im dichtesten Urwald Hausen, den Eingang zum Peradeniya-(Paradies)-Garten in der Nähe von Candi, in seiner Ausdehnung so groß wie Linz, Reis- und Teeplantagen, Gummibäume, die verschiedensten Arten von Palmen, die erste von den Engländern gebaute Eisenbahn Colombo—Candi, verschiedene Einwohnertypen, die Küste von Ceylon mit einem Teil der Eisenbahn an derselben, buddhistische Prozessionen in Candi u. v. a. Der Vortragende, welcher die einzelnen Bilder sehr wirkungsvoll erläuterte, erntete am Schlüsse seines Vortrages lebhaften Beifall. Der Vorstand des Vereines „Nymphaea", Herr Engelbert Jahn, stattete Herrn Plate den herzlichsten Dank ab. Herr Plate gedenkt, diesen Vortrag zugunsten der Armen von Linz und der Kleinrentner zu wiederholen.

Tagblatt (Linz), So., 8. November 1925, Seite 7, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tab&datum=19251108&query=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22&ref=anno-search&seite=7

---

30. März 1926:

(Verein für christliche Volksbildung.) Am Freitag den 26. d. M.. abends 8 Uhr, hielt Herr Alfred Plate, der lange Zeit in Ceylon gelebt hat, in englischer Sprache einen Lichtbilder-Vortrag über diese zu Ostindien gehörige Insel. In einer Reihe von ausgezeichneten Bildern, deren Plastik besonders auffiel, wurden den Zuschauern die Naturschönheiten dieser sehr fruchtbaren großen Insel geoffenbart und außerdem Bilder aus dem Volksleben geboten, welche von dem Vortragenden unter Einfügung manches humorvollen Wortes erklärt wurden. In den dichten Wäldern leben heute noch die Ureinwohner wie vor Jahrtausenden als Jäger, in den Küstenstrichen die Singalesen, ein malayischer, hochgewachsener, schöner Menschenschlag, der sich europäische Kultur zu eigen gemacht hat, in der Religion aber dem Buddhadienste huldigt. Die Hauptstadt von Ceylon, Colombo, ist nach europäischer Art erbaut und in der fruchtbaren Umgebung befinden sich wohlgepflegte Plantagen. Der ebenso lehrreiche wie interessante Vortrag wurde von den zahlreich erschienenen Besuchern durch lauten Beifall gelohnt. C.

(Linzer) Tages-Post, 30. März 1926, S. 6, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19260330&seite=6&zoom=33&query=%22Alfred%2BPlate%22&ref=anno-search

---

5. August 1930:

Alpines. Aus dem D. u. Oe. Alpenverein. Die Sektion Goisern des D. u. Oe. Alpenvereines veranstaltete Freitag im Konsumvereins-Gasthof einen Lichtbildervortrag über „Land und Leute auf der Insel Ceylon“, den Herr Alfred Plate aus Linz, der 21 Jahre lang Kolonist auf Ceylon war und gegenwärtig zur Sommerfrische in Goisern weilt, hielt. An Hand einer großen Zahl prächtiger, selbstaufgenommener Lichtbilder entwarf der Vortragende ein lebenswahres Bild über die Verhältnisse auf Ceylon; er zeigte Aufnahmen von Ruinen vieltausendjähriger Bauwerke, die die ältesten bisher bekannten Baudenkmale der Erde sein sollen. Besonders gefielen die Bilder verschiedener Typen von Eingeborenen, die zeigten, daß man die Insel Ceylon wirklich als das Land der schönen und immer jugendfrischen Menschen bezeichnen darf. Sehr interessant waren die Ausführungen des Redners über Lebensweise und Sitte der Eingeborenen. Obmann Franz Pramesberger dankte im Namen der Sektion Goisern dem Vortragenden für den genußreichen Abend.

(Linzer) Tages-Post, 5. August 1930, S. 5, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tpt&datum=19300805&seite=5&zoom=33&query=%22Alfred%2BPlate%22&ref=anno-search

---

Es könnte evtl. so gewesen sein:

A. W. A. Plate hat sich bereits 1900 aus dem Geschäft zurückgezogen. In diesem Jahr wurde die Firma Plâté & Co. in eine Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (Ltd.) umgewandelt. Mitinhaber waren E. J. Hayward und C. W. Thompson. In den Jahren von 1910 bis 1923 führten zunächst Clara Plâté und ihr Bruder Herbert Heinemann das Unternehmen Plâté & Co., und später Herbert Heinemanns Witwe.

Zumindest von Dezember 1902 bis April 1904 war A. W. A. Plate aktives Mitglied des Anglerclubs (Fishing Club) von Colombo. Das heißt, da war er offenbar noch in Ceylon (= noch nicht in Linz).

Dass A. W. A. Plate in zwei Zeitungsartikeln als Plantagenbesitzer bezeichnet wird, könnte darauf hinweisen, dass er sich nach seinem Rückzug aus der Firma Plâté & Co. zunächst noch als Pflanzer in Ceylon betätigt hat, bevor er dann nach Linz gegangen ist. Er könnte aber natürlich auch gleichzeitig Plantagenbesitzer und Inhaber des Fotoateliers Plâte & Co. gewesen sein

In Linz war A. W. A. Plate ab spätestens April 1913. Er war insgesamt 21 Jahre in Ceylon. Da er wahrscheinlich 1887 nach Ceylon gekommen ist, dürfte er wohl von 1887 bis 1908 in Ceylon gelebt haben. Demnach könnte A. W. A. Plate von circa 1908 bis zu seinem Tod 1931 in Linz gelebt haben. Seine Anwesenheit in Linz lässt sich aber bisher nur für die Jahre von 1925 bis 1928 (durch seine Ceylon-Vorträge dort) belegen.

Anscheinend haben A. W. A. Plate und seine Frau Clara sich getrennt. Er ist irgendwann zwischen 1904 und 1913 (vermutlich 1908) nach Linz gegangen, sie hat Plâté Ltd. offenbar von 1910 bis 1923 ohne ihren Ehemann, dafür mit ihrem Bruder, weitergeführt. Clara Plate geb. Heinemann ist irgendwann zwischen 1923 und 1934 nach Tenterden in England gegangen. A. W. A. Plate starb 1931; möglicherweise ist seine Frau erst nach seinem Tod von Ceylon nach England zurückgegangen, also als Witwe. Anzeichen dafür, dass Clara Plate (wie ihr Ehemann) in Linz war, haben wir keine.

Literatur und Quellen

• Joachim K. Bautze, The photographic studios in Landscapes of Sri Lanka – Early photography in Ceylon / Die Foto-Ateliers in Landscapes of Sri Lanka – Frühe Fotografie in Ceylon, 2013, Landscapes of Sri Lanka. Early Photography in Ceylon / Frühe Fotografie in Ceylon. For the / Für das Museum für Asiatische Kunst and the / und die Gesellschaft für indo-asiatische Kunst Berlin e.V. Berlin: Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 23 Pages; Edited by / Herausgegeben von Raffael Dedo Gadebusch, https://www.academia.edu/38520137/The_photographic_studios_in_Landscapes_of_Sri_Lanka_Early_photography_in_Ceylon_Die_Foto_Ateliers_in_Landscapes_of_Sri_Lanka_Fr%C3%BChe_Fotografie_in_Ceylon?auto=download

• John Falconer, „A.W.A. Plate“, in: A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia, https://luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/A_W_A__Plate/

• Dumbarton Oaks, „Plâté (Plate) & Cie“, Research Library and Collection, https://www.doaks.org/research/library-archives/dumbarton-oaks-archives/collections/ephemera/names/plate-ltd

• University of Cambridge, Digital Library, „Views in Ceylon [i.e. Sri Lanka], 1890s“ (Y303G), https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-Y-00303-G/1

• Allister Macmillan, Extract from: Seaports of India and Ceylon, Historical Descriptive Commercial Industrial Facts, Figures, and Resources, compiled and edited by Allister Macmillan, S. 450, Extract of pages between 397–490 of the complete book. First Published: London 1928, Reprint, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Chennai, 2005, https://archive.org/details/extractfromseapo00alli/page/n7/mode/2up

• Arnold Wright (Hrsg.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon. Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources, edited by Arnold Wright, London, Durban, Colombo, Perth (W.A.), Singapore, Hong Kong, Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company, Ltd., 1907, Neuausgabe: Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 1999, S. 468/469, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22966/page/n473/mode/2up?q=%22A.W.A.+Plate%22

Veröffentlichungen von Plâté & Co. bzw. Plâté Ltd.

• Plâté & Co., The Hundred Best Views of Ceylon: From Photographs Taken by the Publishers, Colombo: Plâté & Co., [ohne Jahr]

Galerie

• 
  Mönche vor einem Tempel auf Ceylon
• 
  Wasserbüffel
• 
  Wellenbrecher, Colombo
• 
  Die York Street in Colombo
• 
  Ecke York Street und Chatham Street in Colombo
• 
  Moschee in den Zimtgärten in Colombo
• 
  Teepflückerinnen

Weblinks etc.

• Wikidata, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123705390
• Wikimedia Commons, Category:Plâté & Co., Ceylon, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pl%C3%A2t%C3%A9_%26_Co.,_Ceylon
• VIAF, https://viaf.org/viaf/4628165326345916290004/
• GND, https://d-nb.info/gnd/1257712608
• EverybodyWiki, https://en.everybodywiki.com/Alfred_William_Amandus_Plate
• Luminous Lint, https://luminous-lint.com/app/photographer/A_W_A__Plate/
• Wikimedia Commons, Category:Plâté & Co., Ceylon, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pl%C3%A2t%C3%A9_%26_Co.,_Ceylon
• The New York Public Library, Digital Collection, Filtering on: Name: A.W.A. Plâté & Co., https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?filters%5BnamePart_mtxt_s%5D%5B%5D=A.W.A.%20Pl%C3%A2t%C3%A9%20%26%20Co.&keywords=&layout=false#
• Meisterdrucke.de, https://www.meisterdrucke.de/k%C3%BCnstler/Alfred-William-Amandus-Plate.html
• Foto: “Rickshaw and bullock hackery, Ceylon.”, im Bestand der Universitätsbibliotheken von Leiden (Niederlande), https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/view/item/845200
• MutualArt.com, Foto aus Ceylon, https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Alfred-William-Amandus-Plate/1B1CECFCAC85BA76
• Umma Exchange, drei Fotos, https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/quick_search/query?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=A.W.A.+Pl%C3%A2t%C3%A9
• The Met, Metropolitan Museum, ein Foto, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/296345
• Plâté Limited, http://www.platelimited.com/vintage-photography.html