Mohamedan Marriage
Some of the most beautiful and rarest early postcards of India are hand-painted, often with penciled titles and the simply printed word "post card" on the back.
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).
Maner Bihar
This unusual, sepia-ish lithographic postcard is probably by Paul Gerhardt at the Ravi Varma Press even though it is not signed by him with the Press imprint.
Taj Mahal. Agra
One of the earliest, if not the earliest postcard to the Taj Mahal.
The Ayah
This postcard shows a nanny with a pram on the “Queen’s necklace” of Malabar beach in Bombay. The artist Dhurandhar and other fellow J.J.
Shoe-lace Hawker
An early Dhurandhar postcard showing, as he was wont to do, the new types springing up in the city of Bombay as office workers and other people wearing Western shoes needed to replace their laces.
Karli Caves
An early court-sized postcard by Paul Gerhardt, chief lithographer at The Ravi Varma Press in - yes - Karli, outside Bombay. The firm moved its premises here in the late 1890s.
A Rajput
A very early lithographic card, published by Gobindram Oodeyram, likely printed in India.
Fruit Seller
Note the rich character on this man's face in an image by M.V. Dhurandhar, one of India's most exceptional and prolific early 20th century painters and postcard artists.
Sent to Master E.
Jumma Masjid Bombay
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.
The Bombay Policeman
At the turn of the century, the uniformed policeman was a novel sight. Note the umbrella instead of gun or baton stick carried by this early policeman, drawn by M.V. Dhurandhar.
Postmarked May 14, 1903, Spencer’s Buildings.
