Muhafiz Khan Mosque. Ahmedabad
Postmarked 1912, an example how a creative sender could use stamps to add their own historical touch to a a postcard.
Postmarked 1912, an example how a creative sender could use stamps to add their own historical touch to a a postcard.
A superbly coloured postcard by D.A. Ahuja. It has probably been coloured with stencils given the inaccuracy around some of the edges, but the colours also seem well woven into the card so could have been part of the German printer's process.
Possibly the earliest postcard of Hyderabad, by the Austrian artist Josef Hoffman who painted this scene during a visit to India in 1893-94 when he was in his sixties.
An unusual keyhole view by Plate & Co. The top part of the front of the card could also have been used for a message. Plate's Art Card series was distinguished for its rich use of color on a slightly embossed or corrugated halftone surface.
[Verso, handwritten] "Buddhist temple from which Naini Tal takes its name. Immediately behind this is the polo ground."
[Original caption] Shankar receives the river Ganga on his head in compliance with the prayers of Bhageeratha. [end]
This image is from a famous painting by Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), one of India's most important painters.
[Original caption] The Jummas Masjid, Old Poor House Road. Jumma Masjid means "Friday Mosque" they say, and so it is not surprising that more than one Indian temple bears the name.
A mendicant is a beggar, one who depends on the goodwill of others to survive. Looking at this short gentleman, one can imagine that he probably had little choice with at least one club foot and two walking sticks to get around, slowly.
Another exuberant, deftly rendered very early postcard by Paul Gerhardt, chief lithographer at the Ravi Varma Press in Bombay. Note the simply drawn mosque minarets, the colors that pull you in while the cart pushes out into the foreground space.
This 16th century temple to Nandi, the sacred bull, was built by Kempe Gowda who also founded the city of Bangalore.