Child Portrait, Adolphe Zimmermans, Court Photographer, The Hague, c. 1902

A large hand-coloured photographic portrait of a young girl, made by Adolphe Zimmermans, court photographer at 21 De Riemerstraat in The Hague, around 1902. The girl is shown in a white dress with puffed sleeves and a coral necklace, against a dark background, set within an oval passe-partout bearing the studio's embossed coat of arms and the inscription "Photographe de la Cour". The hand-colouring on the hair and complexion is well preserved. The portrait is housed in its original dark green wooden frame with gilded inner moulding, total dimensions 60 x 71 cm.

Adolphe Zimmermans (1858-1922) was the leading portrait photographer of The Hague in the decades surrounding the turn of the century. His studio on De Riemerstraat served the Hague elite and the Royal House, and from 1892 he held the title of purveyor to Queen Regent Emma. He is known for his portraits of Princess Wilhelmina, several of which were used as the basis for Dutch postage stamps. Works by Zimmermans are held in the collections of the Rijksmuseum and the Royal Collections. The embossed logo on the passe-partout dates this example to around 1902.