Photo Card Engagement Juliana and Bernhard 1936 Foto Ziegler gelatin silver

Photo card issued on the occasion of the engagement of Princess Juliana to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, announced on 8 September 1936. The front shows the couple in a posed studio portrait, made by Foto Ziegler and published by Nijgh en Van Ditmar N.V. The card is a gelatin silver print on photographic paper, recognisable by the subtle metallic sheen under raking light. The card is in good condition.

This example was postally used. The reverse bears three stamps and a postmark from September 1936, ten days after the engagement was announced, together with a handwritten message addressed to a Miss Bouman in the north of the province of Groningen. The sender writes about a busy family day and plans for the following morning, touching on the royal engagement from within the everyday life in which the news was received. A gelatin silver print is technically an individual photographic print rather than a printed reproduction, which sets this card apart from the mass-printed occasional cards of the same period.