Biography

1836	Jacobus Anthonie Meessen is born on 5 December in Utrecht, as the son of Hermanus Johannes Meessen, a carpenter, and Megteld Legué.
1858	Meessen departs for the Dutch East Indies, where he works as a carpenter. He lives in Batavia.
1862	Meessen returns to the Netherlands, where he registers as a ‘buitengewoon opzigter van den waterstaat’ (‘special inspector of water management’). In the same year, on 11 December, Meessen weds Johanna Alida (Jansje) Steenbeek in Utrecht, where they subsequently settle.
1864–‘70	Meessen makes ‘a six-year journey across the East Indian possessions’.
1867	Meessen sets up a photography studio in Batavia (Java). In May, Meessen stays for a month at the Hotel Sumatra in Padang. In August, he visits the ‘Bovenlanden’ (‘highlands’) on Sumatra. In September, he returns to Batavia and opens up a second photography studio there. His household possessions are auctioned off there in December.
1868–‘69	Meessen sets up a photography studio in Padang on Sumatra. According to the Sumatra Courant of 25 November 1868, he sells photo albums of Sumatra’s Westkust (‘Sumatra’s West Coast’) with more than sixty images. Together with his wife and child, he returns to Batavia in June 1869.
1870–‘75	In 1870, Meessen returns to the Netherlands for good, together with his family. They settle once again in Utrecht. This time, he registers in the city without citing any profession, as a ‘private individual’. From October to December 1870 he lives at Lange Jansstraat G 188; from December 1870 to May 1872 at Lauwerecht M 194; and from May 1872 to September 1875 at Oude Gracht C 81.
	On 15 December 1870, Meessen enters a business partnership for the duration of five years with the photographer and artist Abraham Adrianus Vermeulen (1817–1890) in Utrecht under the company name of ‘A.A. Vermeulen & Cie’, with intentions to produce ‘Photo- and Lithographic’ work. The partnership ends prematurely on 27 March 1873.
1871	In February, Meessen presents a richly decorated album with his photographs of the Dutch East Indies to King William III. He is granted permission to use the title of ‘royal’ on all of his photographic work.
1873	H.M. King William III transfers the album to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (‘Royal Library’) in The Hague, along with numerous other items.
1875	Meessen submits photographs to the geographic exhibition Exposition Géographique in Paris.
1875–‘76	In late 1875, the Amsterdam publisher De Bussy compiles a ‘price list’ of Meessen’s photographs and places advertisements in various newspapers and magazines. The publisher is offering a ‘Verzameling fotografien van Nederlandsch Indie’ (‘Collection of photographs of the Dutch East Indies’) taken by J.A. Meessen.
1875–‘85	Meessen first settles in Gorredijk, in the province of Friesland, but moves one year later to Opsterland (near Beetsterzwaag). In both towns, he registers as a building inspector.
1883	Meessen submits his photographs of the Dutch East Indies to partake in the Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling (‘International Colonial and Export Trade Exhibition’), which is held from May to October in Amsterdam.
1885	On 14 November, Meessen dies in Opsterland, just prior to turning forty-nine. Up until his death, he is employed as ‘Gemeente-architect’ (‘Municipality Architect’) and ‘Opzichter over den Kunstweg Bergum-Heerenveen’ (‘Inspector of the Road Bergum–Heerenveen’).

Discussion

At the time that Jacobus Anthonie Meessen departed for the Dutch East Indies, photography was still a relatively young art. In the Notulen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap (‘Minutes of the Batavian Society’)—the accounts provide a good overview of all kinds of scientific and culture activities in the Dutch colony—photography was mentioned approximately twenty times in the years 1867 to 1878. By far the majority of these are in reference to the society’s commissioning of Isidore van Kinsbergen (1821-1905), a Belgian photographer born in Bruges and living in Batavia, to document the ‘oudheden en monumenten’ (‘antiquities and monuments’) on Java by photographic means, from 1863 to 1866. The remaining references concern donations made by the society’s members: chiefly photographs of ‘volkstypes’ (‘ethnological types’) and buildings. For the period prior to 1870, only two other photographers are cited, J.B. Jasper and Adolph Schaefer. The commercial equivalent of these photographers was the company Woodbury & Page, established on Java in 1857. The hundreds of ‘Views’ this company produced, featuring all sorts of cities, villages, and landscapes in the archipelago, were circulated on a large scale during this period. In addition, there were publications with woodcut engravings and colour lithographs that helped to complete the image of the Dutch colony, such as Javasche Oudheden (‘Javanese Antiquities’), published by C.W. Mieling in 1852. This was more or less the state of affairs at the time that Jacobus Anthonie Meessen, a carpenter and building inspector from Utrecht, decided to devote his efforts to photography during his second stay in the Dutch East Indies during the mid-1860s.

It appears that at the time he departed for the Dutch East Indies, Meessen already had ambitious plans. In a catalogue that was published later, entitled Beredeneerde catalogus van Meessen ‘s photographieën van Oost-Indische landschappen en volkstypen (‘Annotated Catalogue of Meesen’s Photographs of East-Indian Landscapes and Ethnological Types’, 1875), the Amsterdam publisher J.H. De Bussy revealed various details about Meessen’s motives. ‘It was,’ wrote the publisher, ‘for sure a big plan, when Mr. Meessen formulated his intention to produce photographic images of different lands and peoples in the East Indian Archipelago.’ Such an undertaking was by no means without risk, as the introduction proceeded further: ‘the most fanatic superstitions made the photographing of ethnological types almost impossible, so it was not uncommon to speak even of one’s life being in danger.’

Meessen’s initial location following his arrival in the Dutch East Indies in 1864 is not known. In 1867, he opened a photography studio in Batavia. Shortly thereafter, however, he turned up in Padang on the island of Sumatra. There he stayed temporarily at the Hotel Sumatra, offering ‘Magical photographs, double portraits, American family portraits, portraits in colour’. In 1868 and 1869, Meessen ran a permanent studio in Padang. It is not certain whether competition from Woodbury & Page had forced him to seek better fortune on the neighbouring island, but this is by no means improbable. Standard portrait photography apparently served to provide a necessary financial basis for his ambitious plans.

On Sumatra, it seems that Meessen started devoting serious effort to photographing landscapes and cityscapes. In November 1868, he brought out both photographs and albums on the market for the first time, under the title Sumatra’s Westkust (‘Sumatra’s West Coast’). Each album comprised more than sixty photographs. One could choose for series/volumes of twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six photographs in a single binding, for the amount of Dfl. 36, Dfl. 66, or Dfl. 90, respectively. At this point in time, not a single copy of a bound volume or album has been ascertained in any Dutch collection. One would expect that Meessen later used the same shots taken during his early years on Sumatra once again for his comprehensive series Verzameling Fotografien van Nederlandsch Indië (‘Collection of Photographies of the Dutch East Indies’, 1875). An advertisement in the Sumatra Courant of 1868 provides a good overview of what Meessen had to offer:

‘No. 1–24. Views of Padang, such as the Moeara, the Apenberg, the Michielsplein, the Hospital, etc.

No. 25–32. Views of Singkarah and along the Lake of Manindjoe.

No. 33–42. Views of Fort de Kock, the Karbouwengat and two of Fort of the Capellen.

No. 43–48. Views of Paija-Combo and the Gorge of Aroe.

No. 49–54. Views of Padang-Pandjang and the Gorge of Ambatjang.

No. 55–60. Views of Priaman and those later added of the Padang environs.’

The two extensive photo albums currently preserved in the library of the University of Amsterdam and in the Royal Library in The Hague indicate that Meessen’s travels in the Dutch Indies continued further. The album in The Hague includes a travel account, both visual and written: to accompany the photographs of various ethnological types, Meessen even provided his own amusing commentary. His photographs were taken on various islands across the archipelago, specifically: Java, Sumatra, Bangka, Billiton, Borneo, and—quite exceptional—Nias. The account of Meessen’s journey opens with ten composite pages, each featuring eight hand-coloured photographs in the carte-de-visite format depicting various ‘ethnological types’. In total, seventy-five different ethnological types are represented. Beautifully hand-written commentaries list the population groups as Javanese, Chinese, the Dayaks, Sinhalese and Malaysians, merchants on Java, warriors, soldiers, women, and the concubine or ‘njai’ (female companions). As Meessen wrote about this last group: ‘A necessary evil for military personnel, they preserve the best discipline both in and outside the barracks, whereas on expeditions or travels over sea, these women provide invaluable services, and are fearful of absolutely nothing: see them all generally outlined there’. In these albums, Meessen made observations that were more worthwhile for reading, such as those concerning the ‘Maleitsche priesteressen’ (‘Malaysian priestesses’): ‘they are sort of like nuns, who have devoted themselves to the religion of Mohammed, and who have received their devotion as such in Mecca, the holy city. In contrast to all other women in the Archipelago, they carry great authority and have tremendous influence.’ When standing across from the prince Gadawoe, he writes: ‘The exceptional ornament of the sovereign, accompanied by the naked lower portion of his body, made it hard to keep a straight face.’

Unfortunately, the landscapes and cityscapes in the albums are void of any observations made by the photographer.

Meessen’s photography mission had the character of an exploratory expedition. In this regard, his account of his arrival on the island of Nias illustrates this well: ‘Upon my arrival, I fired off a couple of shots and raised the Dutch flag to the masthead. Very soon, people came out to hear what I wanted. After I explained matters, one promised to provide me with help on the following day, to transport my goods, and promptly at 5 AM, I encountered sixty warriors standing on the beach. The kampong [‘village’] is built on a high hill, the road to it is very steep and well-protected…’

Nothing is known regarding the cameras and equipment that Meessen had with him. Especially his landscapes, thickets, and tree groves show up well. Meessen typically photographed from a high vantage point, e.g. from the top of a hill for a bird’s-eye view introducing a coulisse effect. Groups of trees frame the image, which he often placed within a traditional round or oval mask. Meessen photographed the usual topographic highlights one is accustomed to seeing from the Dutch East Indies: the palace of the governor-general, the mosque, monuments, the neo-gothic home of the painter Raden Saleh, and both the church and the Chinese houses in Batavia. The cityscapes are sometimes taken from close up, depicting beautiful details. Most noticeable is the series on Java, not only because of the quality of the images, but also the gold-toned prints. In the series depicting the other islands, the quality is occasionally somewhat less.

The expense of purchasing cameras, other equipment, the chemicals, renting hotel rooms and studio space, six years of travelling, and a yield of approximately 250 usable photographs: in Meessen’s case, we are fortunate enough to know what it all cost. The publisher De Bussy made such matters plain in the sales catalogue of Meessen’s photographs: ‘the financial sacrifices, which according to precise annotations, amount to a by no means insubstantial sum of [Dfl.] 34,000.’ On the opposite page was the ‘Price List’. For De Bussy, mentioning what the publisher wished to receive in return for these photographic plates was apparently only natural: for the entire collection, consisting of 175 landscapes in the ‘format of an entire cabinet card’, and seventy-five ‘Volkstypen’ (‘ethnological types’), hand-coloured and in the carte-de-visite format, all enclosed in a walnut box, those interested were expected to pay the considerable amount of Dfl. 225. Per photo, the landscapes were sold for Dfl. 1.25; and the ‘ethnological types’ for Dfl. 0.50 per piece. A brief calculation reveals that Meessen would have had to print and sell at least 150 sets of the complete series comprising 250 photographs, in order to earn back his investment. The series was exhibited in Paris in 1875. Shortly thereafter, De Bussy advertised in the Indische Letterbode. The photographs were again removed from the cabinet and exhibited once again at the Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling (‘International Colonial and Export Trade Exhibition’) that was held in Amsterdam in 1883, alongside prints of H. Veen’s ‘Indische’ (‘East Indian’) negatives made by the Amsterdam photographer Pieter Oosterhuis (or one of his employees), photos of Woodbury & Page, and carbon prints by C. Lang—all who were active in the Dutch East Indies.

Meessen compiled a selection of his photographs from the Dutch East Indies in an exceptionally plush photo album, which the photographer himself presented to King William III as a gift. The title page of this album includes a personal, calligraphed dedication written and addressed to the sovereign: ‘this album […] the fruit of a six-year journey across the East-Indian possessions, respectfully dedicated by the maker, Utrecht February 1871’. Before being sent to The Hague and added to the royal possessions, Meessen’s showpiece was put on display in order to give the public an opportunity to see it. The album was exhibited in Utrecht at the studio of his colleague and business partner, the photographer Abraham A. Vermeulen. The review in the Utrechtsch Provinciaal en Stedelijk Dagblad (‘Utrecht Provincial and City Daily’) of 21 February 1871 was highly favourable: “Mr. Meessen, photographer, has visited the Dutch East Indies and brought back a number of photographs from there, providing all sorts of important perspectives from the tropical regions, as well as portraits of different tribes, in colour. This collection may be described as the only one of its kind. The best of this collection have been compiled in a splendid album, which the maker will have the honour of offering to H.M. the King in the coming days.’ The reviewer was likewise quite satisfied with the album’s exceptional design: ‘This album has been fashioned by Mr. Abels and decorated with gold and silver ornaments by Mr. v. Kempen. The four corners of silver-oxide bear in gold the names of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Nias; in the middle the coats of arms of the Netherlands and Batavia have been applied in gold, encircled by a coconut [tree] and a banana tree in silver, the entirety is neatly finished in Hindu style.’ The viewing of the album was not for free. The money raised—as was customary in the nineteenth century—was nevertheless destined for charity: ‘Mr. Meessen has placed this album and his photographs on display at the house of Mr. A.A. Vermeulen, photographer on the Voetiussteeg, until this Saturday on behalf of the orphanage on the Daalschen Dijk. We do not have to use this charity as a motive of inspiration to come and see the album and photographs: they are in themselves important enough to encourage a visit to the studio of Mr. Vermeulen.’

According to the Staatscourant of 3 January 1871, No. 2, Meessen had only recently entered a partnership for the duration of five years with the photographer and painter Abraham Adrianus Vermeulen (1817–1890), under the company name of ‘A.A. Vermeulen & Cie’. The aim of this partnership was to produce ‘Photo- en Lithographisch werk’ (‘Photo and Lithographic work’). It is unclear what costs and benefits were involved for each of the parties. What we do know about Vermeulen is that he was chiefly a portrait photographer. He produced, for instance, carte-de-visite portraits of university professors in Utrecht. Perhaps the primary motive for Meessen’s desire to do business with Vermeulen was that, upon his return to the Netherlands, he quickly needed a working space and materials in order to make prints of his negatives for the album to be given to the king. There is only a period of several weeks between the day the partnership was registered, 3 January, and the day the Utrecht newspaper published a notice on the exhibition of the king’s album at Vermeulen’s business on 21 February. During this time, Meessen would had to have written lengthy texts to accompany the photographs. For Vermeulen, the series of topographic photographs of the Dutch East Indies was perhaps an attractive addition to his assortment. He may also have been the one who made the actual prints, later charging an exorbitant fee. Is this perhaps an explanation for the incredibly high amount of Dfl. 34,000 stated? Perhaps Meessen invested a smaller amount than Vermeulen had supposed? In any event, the partnership failed to produce what had initially been expected, as it was dissolved prematurely on 27 March 1873. With the exception of February 1871, during the two years of their mutual cooperation, neither of the two men advertised nor did they capitalise on the East Indies photographs, until De Bussy came with his price list at the end of 1875.

In 1873, the album for the king—along with its case and a variety of other items—were transferred to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (‘Royal Library’) in The Hague. The album does not include the full series, such as the one that De Bussy brought out on the market three years later, which included 175 photographs as opposed to the 153 photographs found in the king’s album. The showpiece copy in the Royal Library, comprising an ample selection of Meessen’s photographs from the East Indies, however, did not go unnoticed. The librarian Dr. T.H.L. van Wijnmalen saw this gift as an opportunity to discuss the photographs in the Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië (‘Magazine of the Dutch Indies’). Entitled Een vorstelijk geschenk (‘A Princely Gift’), Van Wijnmalen compared Meessen’s photographs with drawings of the same subject made by Abraham Salm (1801–1876). These drawings had been reproduced as lithographs starting in 1865 (until 1872) by J.C. Greive Jr. and published by ‘Frans Buffa en Zonen’ in Amsterdam. Van Wijnmalen’s comparison was unfavourable for Meessen’s photographs, as they were judged to be ‘not so excellent’. Yet, as he hastened to add, the album was by all means acceptable, and it deserves ‘of its sort, warranted appreciation […] no small compensation for what the capacity of our imagination still lacks with the few descriptions of the beautiful realm of Insulinde [the Dutch East Indies].’

Meessen’s photographs were not widely disseminated and are today found only in three public institutions as integral, more or less representative sets. The aforementioned album compiled by Meessen himself for King William III is preserved at the Royal Library in The Hague. Another album, entitled Insulinde, with photographs pasted on loose leaves and a handwritten article and clarification, has been traced at the library of the University of Amsterdam. This album comes from P.J. Veth (1814–1895), a professor in Leiden, who donated it to the Koninklijk Aardrijkskundig Genootschap (‘Royal Geographic Society’) in 1891. Veth must have compiled the album himself after having received the series of photos—pasted on brown cardboard mounts—from his wife as a gift. He pasted the photos, all with a brown cardboard margin, onto new pages, to which he gave numbers and titles (Veth’s handwriting can be recognised.) With 281 photographs, this album has many more photographs than the album in the Hague, and thirty more than what was stated in the Meessen catalogue. Veth himself made the same observation, as evident in an accompanying text: ‘With this, 274 Photographs have been counted. There are then 7 still remaining, for which I cannot determine the provenance with certainty; yet I believe that the Meessen collection, such as I received them from my wife as a gift, included several photographs, which were not included in the hereby enclosed catalogue.’ In any event, among these photos there is at least one, if not more, which can be attributed to Woodbury & Page. It is also not known whether two beautiful photographs of the Dayak people were as well taken by Meessen. Veth organised the photos himself, according to island. He then checked them according to the titles in the price list, subsequently recording the title beneath the photograph. Those photographs that were not found on the list, were then given a name. Veth is also likely to have made the title page ‘Insulinde’, which included a portrait of the sultan of Jakarta. In this case as well, it is uncertain whether Meessen made the photograph. With his photo reportage, Veth seized the opportunity to promote his umpteenth treatise on the East in the best possible light. He added thirty hand-written pages with descriptions and clarifications regarding what was to be seen in the photographs, even citing his literary sources. At the KITLV (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal -, Land – en Volkenkunde, today called the ‘Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies’), an album with loose-leaf pages has been preserved, which includes photographs of ethnological types. This is a work published by De Bussy with a printed title page, ‘Indische Album. Photografieën naar de natuur van J.A. Meessen’ (‘East Indies Album. Photographs from Nature by J.A. Meessen’). Unfortunately, the provenance of this album is unknown. Also preserved at this institute are approximately 70 individual photographs taken by Meessen, primarily landscapes. Preserved in the photographic collection of the Prince of Wied, in Germany, are several albums containing pages with series of ethnological types, which probably came into his possession through the family’s Dutch ties (the Prince of Wied married a daughter of the Dutch prince, Frederick).

Meessen’s photographs are comparable to those of the British firm Woodbury & Page. Not only did he produce commercial portraits at his studios in Batavia and Padang, but he also photographed landscapes and so-called ‘ethnological types’ on a systematic basis during his journeys across the archipelago. Whereas Woodbury & Page’s photographs are frequently encountered in the private albums of those who travelled to the East Indies, Meessen’s photographs have been found in only four collections. The significance of his photographic work lies both in the charming character of his photographs and his written travel observations that accompany these images. But also the scale of Meessen’s series and his ambition from the very start are interesting aspects of a photographic enterprise in the nineteenth century. In the case of Woodbury & Page, this proved to be extremely successful. For Meessen—who always worked on his own—such an endeavour turned out to be anything but a financial success, however, with this photographer from Utrecht never managing to find a suitable market.

Documentation