The Gate, Taj Mahal, Agra
[Original caption] Commenced in 1637 and completed in 1648 A.D. by the Emperor Shahjahan. Wonderful Building in the world. [end]
[Original caption] Commenced in 1637 and completed in 1648 A.D. by the Emperor Shahjahan. Wonderful Building in the world. [end]
An exceptional early lithographic card from the famous German exotic people's promoter and founder of Berlin's zoo. The title says it depicts an Indian coffee house.
One of the most popular early views of Kolkata, this Jain is dedicated to Sitalnathji, the 10th of the 24 Jain tirthankaras.
"From its opening day," writes Thomas R. Metcalf in An Imperial Vision Indian Architecture and the British Raj, "the building was praised as a 'successful adaptation of the Indo-Saracenic style to a modern public building. For the Journal of Indian
The Alauddin Gate of Delhi is known as Alai Darwaza
[Original caption] Built by Alaudin Khilji in 1310 A.D. [end]
Alai Darwaza is said to be among the first buildings in India to be based on Central Asian and Muslim design principles.
Probably the earliest Tuck's postcard of the Taj Mahal, from a Bourne & Shepherd photograph, before writing was allowed on the back.
A real-photo postcard printed the wrong way around. By the late teens it was becoming more common for publishers to print postcards on photographic paper the size and with the backing of postcards; this was possibly commissioned by Ahmed Din.
[Original caption] A beautiful palace of red sandstone built either by Akbar (1556-1605) or by Jahanghir (1605-1627). The great central court, its pillars, the carving and ornamentation, are all pure Hindu.
The former Town Hall is now the Gandhi Bhawan Library and was built in an Indo-Saracenic style blending Western and Eastern elements. It was inaugurated in 1892.
This is what collectors call a "brushstroke" postcard, where the printer has slightly embossed the image.