Antique chromolithograph of people picking coffee beans in a coffee plantation around Buitenzorg, nowadays Bogor. The Dutch introduced coffee as a cash-crop to bolster the coffers of the bankrupt VOC towards the end of its life. It was continued during the cultuurstelsel period after the Java War of 1830 and its practices notably inspired Eduard Douwes Dekker to write his book Max Havelaar. To this day, coffee remains an important crop in Indonesia and the best quality coffee is still harvested as seen in this picture: picked by hand to ensure only the ripest and best berries get made into coffee.

Published in Leiden, the Netherlands, after a water drawing by J.C. Rappard,

Jhr. Josias Cornelis Rappard (1824-1898) was a colonel in the KNIL and a painter. During his posting in the Netherlands Indies 1842-1872, he painted and drew pictures of life and scenes in the Indies that were later, back in Leiden, The Netherlands, would be made into chromolithographs. The Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam holds a large number of these prints and collectors all over the world appreciate Rappard's classic watercolours.

Chromolithography was a popular method for colour printing in the 19th century because of its lower cost and relative ease to mass-produce. The process involves the use of stones and a chemical process to fasten images to the paper. High-end chromolithographs are hand-finished by an artist after the process to ensure the best possible fidelity in each copy.