Confectioner's Stall - Jaipur
Some of the most interesting postcards are bazaar and storefront scenes, which can be staged or candid, but always seem to contain a wealth of information about life a century or more ago.
Gobindram Oodeyram
Snake Charmer, Jaipur
Not many snake charmers make it into a photographer's studio, but here the soft floral backdrop and line of the flute reinforces the sense of the cobras emerging gracefully from their basket.
Female Spinning, Jaipur
A popular Jaipur postcard shows a woman spinning cotton in front of a traditional door.
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 Jaipur Sardar
Seated on a horse, this Jaipur Sardar wears a traditional dress and looks very bored indeed.
Albert Hall, Front view. Jaipur.
Albert Hall was opened in 1887 and designed by the British architect Sir Swinton Jacob.
Astronomical Observatory - Jaipur
Jaipur’s relationship to the heavens had many facets, from the laying of the main avenue on an East–West axis between “the gates of the sun and moon,” to Maharajah Sawai Ram Singh’s personal fascination with astronomy.
Dancing Girls. Jaipur.
A postcard like this was the result of a careful and perhaps exhausting pose by the dancers. Note the man holding up the backdrop, which probably covered a studio wall or other scene.
The Baby and his Goat. Jaipur.
This postcard by the Jaipur-based firm Gobindram Oodeyram shows a little boy with the teat of a goat somewhat crudely photoshopped into his mouth (probably two superimposed images). To a European buying the postcard in colonial times, it would seem
A Rajput
A very early lithographic card, published by Gobindram Oodeyram, likely printed in India.
