An apparently hand-stenciled color card likely made from a photograph at the Ravi Varma Press facilities in Karla, outside Mumbai. Note how carefully everyone, especially the two dancers, are holding their pose in this vibrant frozen moment.
[Original caption] Performing Bears, Calcutta. It is a common occurrence in Calcutta and other cities of India to meet the native from the hills leading a small bear that is found in the Himalayas and other mountain districts.
The former Angelina Yeoward (1873-1930) became one of the most famous singers in India, and one of its first gramophone-recorded artists.
This card, sent by a Mr. Seamus on Dec. 1, 1905 from Kolkata, has a stamp positioned in the top that extends the tilt of the woman's head.
This postcard actually shows Gohar Jan, India's first gramophone recorded artist (1902) and the most famous singer of her time.
A startling image of an Indian actress, carrying a bow in one hand, perhaps from the play she is acting in. But is it a she?
One of early Indian cinema's most famous silent and sound film actors, Dinshaw Billimoria, shown here with his favorite co-star and romantic lead, Sulochana (also known as Ruby Myers). The two made a number of silent films together, some of which
A postcard like this was the result of a careful and perhaps exhausting pose by the dancers. Note the man holding up the backdrop, which probably covered a studio wall or other scene.
Every city had its female dancers, or "nautch women" and they were often showed with the musicians who played, assisted and sometimes protected and managed them as well.
The famous Indian singer Gohar Jan, queen of early LP recordings and the first Indian artist to be recorded on gramophone on November 2, 1902. Born in Azamgarh, north India as Angelina Yeoward in 1873 she became the most famous nautch girl and singer
