One of the classic Bombay images from the period, this "village scene" with unruly palm trees was reproduced in many formats by Clifton & Co. though it is this collotype version that is the most captivating.
Sent from Perim (an island near Yemen) to
Another striking portrait by the great Indian artist M.V. Dhurandhar (1867-1944). This one was sent in 1905 by an Indian postcard collector, probably in Bombay, who pursued his hobby in a way that gives insight into early collector's fine tastes:
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An early view of Bombay by one of its preeminent early postcard publishers. It shows the Rajabai Tower, completed in 1878 on the grounds of the University of Mumbai.
One of the most famous temples in Mumbai, Dwarkadhish Temple, built in 1875, was often referred to as the Monkey Temple because of the figures of monkeys eating bananas on the front.
Among the first postcards printed in India, from a lithograph by The Ravi Varma Press' chief lithographer, Paul Gerhardt.
This 1892 Singer Manufacturing Co. advertising card for its sewing machines is probably the very first postcard of India, even if technically it was an ad card and not meant to be mailed with a stamp and address visible on the back.
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One of those postcards that can be read, perhaps, as satirical or documentary.
An early lithographic postcard, and among the rarer ones, by the artist Paul Gerhardt. It was printed in Karli, outside Bombay, at the Ravi Varma Printing Press where Gerhardt worked as a lithographer.
[Original caption] Victoria Terminus, Bombay (City). Bombay is by far the most European in appearance of all the cities of India. Extensive lines of tramway pass through the broad city streets that are continuously lined with splendid buildings.
A classic Dhurandhar portrait. The growing metropolis of Bombay with its modern buildings form the backdrop to a fully formed character, in traditional dress, with a quizzical expression on her face. Does she understand what is happening around her?
