Dancing Girls, Jaipur
An unusual dark background, and all the women holding hands and looking off slightly to their left.
Postmarked Jaipur, March 23, 1923, and mailed to Mrs. Eagleton, 212 Elmwood Ave., Newark, NY, USA: "Feb.
Entertainment
Nautch Party
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.
Calcutta, Performing Bears
[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.
Gohar Jaan
The former Angelina Yeoward (1873-1930) became one of the most famous singers in India, and one of its first gramophone-recorded artists.
A Benares Dancing Girl
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.
Famous Nautch Girl
This postcard actually shows Gohar Jan, India's first gramophone recorded artist (1902) and the most famous singer of her time.
An Indian Actress
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?
D. Billimoria and Sulochana
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
Dancing Girls. Jaipur.
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.
Dancing Girls of Peshawar Ready For The Dance
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.
