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.
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.
The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, about 18 km from the Indian border at Wagah, were constructed in the 1640s by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. They were inspired by his father Emperor Jehanghir's Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar, Kashmir.
The Princely State of Chamba appeared on few postcards during the Raj even though its rulers seemed to have good relationships with a number of Punjab-based photographers, including Fred Bremner and John Burke.
An unusual card which shows a woman, presumably a dancer, looking at the the photograph of a man, a self-reflexive trope that may or may not be recognized by us, who hold the postcard in our hands.
There are not that many postcards showing the charpai [charpoy], a ubiquitous feature of Indian life, defined in Hobson-Jobson (1903, p.
Benjamin B. Cohen, in his highly informative study of Raj clubs, In the club Associational Life in colonial South Asia writes: "Locating the center of the [colonial] club's sphere at Government House de-centered the club and reflects the strong link
[Original caption] The tree grows to a height of 120 feet and has a large spreading head. A channel is in the bark with a cutlass for the mil to flow and is caught in gourds.
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.
This card, sent by a Mr. Seamus on Dec. 1, 1905 from Kolkata, has a stamp positioned in the top that extends the tilt of the woman's head.
One of the most famous palaces in Lucknow, built by Nawab Ghazi-ud-Din Haider in the early 19th century, the Chattar Manzil epitomized the eclectic mixture of European and Indian architectural styles that made Lucknow so photogenic for early