Van Gari Woman
This particular postcard is among the hardest of Gerhardt's early works for The Ravi Varma Press to find, despite the effective use of depth of field to bring life to the scene.
Mumbai Bombay
Dancing Girl and Musician
One of the most popular of early nautch postcards, made in many variations by Clifton & Co. As is so often the case, the musician lends colour and evokes the dance even if, in this case, they are probably standing very still in the studio.
Queen's Mosque, Ahmedabad
Among the earliest postcards – and certainly early color postcards – of Ahmedabad is this view of Rani Rupamati's Mosque, built in the early 15th century and still standing.
Sawing Timber
Timber was mostly used as a building material and for making furniture. Power tools and machines are available to make life easier for carpenters today, but a century ago, specialized workmen plying their trade were a popular postcard theme.
Radha-Vilas
[Original caption] A love scene between Radha and her consort Lord Krishna. [end]
Lord Krishna spent his earlier life in Vrindavan where the Gopis or cow-herd girls offered him company. Radha was considered the chief gopi.
Rabindranath Tagore
A portrait of Tagore published three years after his death. In Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson's excellent biography of this great man (Bloomsbury, 1995), there appears this translation of this poignant poem:
Karma (The Worker), 1896
No sign of my
Progress of Fashion
A clever postcard by master artist M.V. Dhurandhar showing the modernization of fashion among women in his hometown of Bombay. This card was published by D.B.
Parsi Ladies
One of the most popular early postcards of Parsees was this arresting composite portrait by Clifton & Co. The original albumen likely dates to the late 1890s.
Sepoy Chatta Singh V.C., of the 9th Bhopal Infantry
[Original caption] A RAJPUT V.C. "For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in leaving cover to assist in his Commanding Officer who was lying wounded and helpless in the open.
Fisher Woman
An early postcard and theme of Bombay artists, the fisher woman, with a basket of fish on her head. A fishing vessel is in the background, its mast at an angle which adds energy to her pose.
