'Javanese Villa, Buitenzorg Java'

'Javanese Villa, Buitenzorg Java'  
Signed with initials WB and dated 1889 lower right
Gray wash and pencil, 23.2 x 30 cm  
In 1745 Governor-general Van Imhoff decided to build his country house, which later would become the Governor General’s palace, in Buitenzorg (without worries), present day Bogor, some 60 km. south of Batavia in the agreeable climate of the mountains. In 1817 the Botanical Gardens were established there and in the 19th and 20th century any Dutchman who could afford it left the unhealthy climate of Batavia to build a villa in Buitenzorg.