This postcard actually shows a young Gohar Jan (right) and her mother Malka Jan, both famous dancers and singers. Gohar Jan was the first recorded Indian artist, by the Gramophone company in 1904. She can be heard on YouTube.
This image was used
The Kolam tradition of creating complex geometric patterns, often passed down from mother to daughter, out of rice flour or chalk in front of the home is an ancient tradition in South India and elsewhere.
The bicycle was something quite new in Bombay at the turn of the century, and often featured on postcards, frequently with women as drivers.
This so-called "chromo-collotype" card was created by running an image derived from a black and white photograph through multiple color runs, after each color had dried, creating rich and translucent images.
King George V (1865-1936) and Queen Mary (1867-1953) visited Peshawar from 2nd to 5th December 1905, as part of the Tour of India, but this real photo postcard was likely printed a decade or two later, so significant was this visit to British
These generic postcards, with a different city slapped on the top signboard and the message, were rare in British India, perhaps because of the most incongruous scene and in this case, forest setting.
Khursheed Bano was a prominent actress and singer in Bollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Born on April 14, 1914, she was a pioneer of Indian cinema.
This card with its carefully arranged colorful stamps was postmarked March 16, 1911 in Egypt, and likely sent in an envelope to someone as there is no address on the back and likely was destined for a collector.
One can imagine that the textiles worn by the woman are vibrant with color, and the postcard could be spectacular hand-tinted, but the stripes still make for a billowing effect in black and white.
Much of the early postcard market was driven by collectors who exchanged cards with each other around the world, as this text on this card illustrates. Addressed to Frau Emma Valenti in Trieste, Austria:
"Madame,
Your cards to hand.
