Juggler with goat and monkey
An Dhurandhar portrait of a familiar sight on Bombay streets, the multi-tasking juggler. Note once again the soft city backdrop.
Court sized
Court card or court sized card was the name given to a size of picture postcard, mainly used in the United Kingdom, which were approximately 4.75 x 3.5 inches and predates the standard size of 5.5 x 3.5 inches (Wikipedia).
Calcutta
One of the earliest postcards of India, Calcutta, published by W. Rossler, a German or Austrian photographer in the city in 1897. Lithograph, Court sized, Printed in Austria. Undivided back.
Puri, Temple
The Shree Jagannath Temple was built about 900 years ago; this court-sized postcard from around 1900 is likely to be among the very earliest from the Indian state of Odisha. The temple is also the source of the English word "juggernaut."
According to
Snake Charmer
Snake charmers are one of the most common early Indian postcard subjects, and this must be one of the earliest and most beautiful such views. Note the clever use of the palm backdrop to create the illusion of depth, and the rich use of red.
View of Ootacamund
Most big Madras studios and retailers had branches in Ooti, among them Wiele & Klein, publisher of this very early court-sized view, possibly the earliest of the hillstation.
Calcutta
An early view of Kolkata by one of its first postcard publishers. The fine detail and texture of the collotype can be seen even in how the individual telephone wires are visible.
Passenger Cart
A very early lithographic postcard by Gobindram Oodeyram that seems to have been printed in India. A compelling glimpse of the rural poor in the sprawling state of Rajasthan during what were trying times.
A Tamil Lady
A very early Higginbotham's postcard, with the back blind stamped "Post Card" instead of printed (or electrotyped). The image is also very small, not merely to leave room for writing but because that is where most of the expense was, in the ink and
Greetings from Darjeeling Himalaya
An early "Greetings from" postcard of Darjeeling by its premiere early photographer Thomas Paar. Clare Harris in her excellent book Photography and Tibet (Reaktion, 2016) "deconstructs" the figure on the left, whom she correctly calls a 'poster boy'
State Elephant
In India, elephants are revered as symbols of wisdom and good luck. Once it was common to find elephants on the roads of Mumbai.
