Antique chromolithograph of a scene in an opium den. Along with sugar, coffee, and tea, opium was one of the major cash crops of the Indies. In fact, there were factories in Batavia, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta to process the poppy into opium. Most were used medicinally and exported to other parts of the world but opium was also a notorious recreational drug as seen here. A serving woman hands a pipe to a man by the lamp while a man on the left is experiencing the effects of opium in darkness.

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.

This lithograph is part of a series, view all by clicking HERE