Bombay - The Museum

Bombay - The Museum

c. 1915
14.00x
8.80cm

[Original caption] The Museum. As befitting an important town like Bombay, the Museum is, indeed, a very fine one, and contains many valuable collections. [end]

This postcard was likely printed soon after the construction of the Prince of Wales Museum was complete in 1915, as there are no plants or trees in the foreground. However, after completion the building was used as a Military Hospital in World War I, and only inaugurated as a Museum in 1922. Nonetheless, the card with the printed caption above referring to the collections inside seems to have been postmarked in India in 1915 or 1918 (the last digit on the Indian stamp is not clear). So whether the caption pre-figured the actual utilization of the Museum, or was simply a generic one, is unclear.

The original Prince of Wales Museum is now the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, one of India's leading museums with collection highlights including ancient Indus Valley pieces to modern Indian painting.