This glass plate negative shows Tan Jiak Kim (1859-1917) posing together with his wife and two sons. He wears a medal of the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), as well as a medal which he received when he attended the coronation ceremony of King George V in 1911 as a representative of the Straits Settlements. Tan Jiak Kim helped to establish the Straits Chinese British Association in 1900.Glass plates are first coated with a photosensitive collodion or gelatin layer before being exposed using a camera. The resultant negative image can be used to make any number of positive prints.
