evjo, here's what I found out about the cards:
This is a translation of the description for Porseleinkaarten from dutch to english (I used google translate so don't take this as the best translation):
Porcelain Cards (ca. 1825-1890 ) derive their name from their white luster and exceptional texture . For decades, they were the ideal advertising medium and therefore offer an original look at the 19th - century society. Our country was the undisputed center of the porcelain map production and had an international clientele .
The specific card you asked about was a little trickier because Trennes is actually Etrennes (I know, I couldn't see the E either. It's apparently the big leafy decoration that takes up the left side of the card). I think this is a New Year's card to the students at University of Louvain in Belgium from their concierge. I love all the embellishment! All the images of cherubs doing very uncherubic behavoir (drinking, smoking, one with way too many hearts stuck on his arrow etc) and the tiny little image of the owl (wisdom?) pushed off to the very far edge. Maybe it was a way of saying we know you participated in a lot of extracurricular activities when you should have been studying but we know you're only young once. Here's a New Years card to show how much we appreciate you.
A translation of the wording on the card would be "To the gentleman(?) members of the Student Society of Louvain, from its Concierge" (this is very approximate, my french is very, very rusty and not too good to begin with). Take all of this with a grain of salt. Hopefully someone with better french language skills than mine will chime in. Card reads "Etrennes - Á Messieurs les Membres de la Société des Etudiants de Louvain, par son Concierge".
