Indian Hairstyle from Antiquity to the Present
A rare and exceptional early French postcard that attempts to tell the historical story of hairstyles in India, delicately held together by ivory and ornament stretching from top left to bottom right.
Postcard
Smoking Hookah
A distinctly colored postcard, with the pinkish mud offsetting the green grass and white garb of the smoker. Note the little boy and half-hidden woman watching from the hut.
Kolar Gold Field - Champion Reef Mine
The world's second deepest gold mine near Bangalore. Gold had long been known in the area, but it was only after the application of new engineering methods that size-able finds in the 1880s justified larger investments.
A Bania Lady
A beautiful example of colorization, with the rich brown of wood and skin set off against the black and white original studio backdrop. On the back, one owner has pencilled in "Hindu Bourgeois."
The Durbar Hall. Mysore State Palace.
[Original caption] The Durbar Hall. Mysore State palace. The palace is built in Hindu style, the front supported by four fantastically carved wooden pillars.
Gosavi (Ascetic)
A very early postcard printed in India. Gosavi is a Marathi word that refers to someone who has renounced worldly pleasures and wears garments of the "brick-dust" color shown here.
The Gorgeous East - A Viceregal Party
An early Tuck's painted postcard made to celebrate the 1903 Delhi Darbar. Viceroy Lord Curzon and his wife Mary are atop the elephant, their arrival opened the Darbar.
Bengalee Babu
Another classic, empathetic Dhurandhar portrait that seems to capture well Hobson Jobson's (1903, p. 44) definition: "BABOO , s. Beng. and H. Bābū [Skt. vapra, 'a father']. Properly a term of respect attached to a name, like Master or Mr., and
His Majesty's Indian Army
Grand Review of Troops held before the Amir of Afghanistan Habibullah Khan at Agra in January 1907 when he was invested by Lord Minto with the Order of the Bath. A. Vivian Mansell & Co. were one of Britain's most high-end postcard publishers.
Continental Pneumatic Carriage Tyres
Before there were cars, there were carriages, and even these could benefit from pneumatic tyres which were inflated by air and led to more comfortable rides.
