Mumbai Bombay
Nautch Party
An apparently hand-stenciled color card likely made from a photograph at the Ravi Varma Press facilities in Karla, outside Mumbai. Note how carefully everyone, especially the two dancers, are holding their pose in this vibrant frozen moment.
Bombay War Hospitals
A postcard depicting hospitals in Mumbai used to treat some of the Indian troops who fought in World War I as part of the British Army.
An Indian Woman travelling in the Manshil
A very early postcard printed in India, most likely by The Ravi Varma Press and drawn by its chief lithographer Paul Gerhardt.
Bombay, Entrance To Elephanta Caves
[Original caption] Entrance of Elephanta Caves. The caves are to be found on the Island of Elephanta which is situated about 6 miles from Bombay and are entered by a good flight of stone steps, constructed in 1854 at a cost of Rs.
Barber at Work
A fine example of hand-tinting and documentation on a postcard. Note how the barber's entire work kit is proudly displayed at the bottom of the image, all of which fits into a leather satchel.
Greetings From Bombay
A early Mumbai postcard, with ornament weaving together three photographs of the city.
[Scene around Karla, Maharashtra]
An unusual card from The Ravi Varma Press which shows two women walking among a crowd in a makeshift bazaar, part of a set of similar cards.
Kodaikanal
"Kodaikanal (Kody), though not so quite fashionable as Ooty," wrote Eustace Reynolds Hall in The Tourist's India (1907) "is rapidly coming into favour.
A Morning Obligato
A very early postcard printed in India (postmarked Dec. 1902 in one instance) by the lithographer W. Cooper. The chance discovery of another photographic postcard shows how a scene like this was composed.