“Chinese Towkay”

This photograph shows two men and a child in Chinese robes standing in a courtyard. Although the photographer is not known, it may be taken by G.R. Lambert and Co.G.R. Lambert and Co was a leading and the most enduring of the European photography studios in Singapore. The studio was established in 1867 by Gustave Richard Lambert, who was originally from Dresden, Germany. Popular among the elites, the firm was often chosen as the official photographers for important state events in Singapore. In 1861 it was appointed as the official photographer of the King of Siam and the Sultan of Johore.