Benares. Ganga Mehal Ghat.
Ganga Mahal Ghat is one of the holiest ghats at Varanasi and was built in the 1830s. Note how the hand-tinting has highlighted, not too carefully, the sun umbrellas in the foreground.
Kolkata
Calcutta. Dalhousie Barrack Fort William.
Fort William in Calcutta, completed in 1781, is a remnant British colonial rule.
Dalhousie Barrack, a four-storey building, is a captivating component of Fort William. Today it is the Military Head quarters of the Eastern Command of Indian Army.
Lucknow. The Kaiser Pasund.
Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, is often called the "city of the Nawabs."
The pillars, domes and minarets of Kaiser Pasand drew on Mughal architecture and European styles popular among Lucknow's ruling class in the 1820s when the
Calcutta. (Eden Gardens) The Pagoda from the Promenade
Another colorful artist-signed postcard of one of Kolkata's most prominent landmarks and postcarded spaces.
Calcutta (A Monsoon Sunset)
Another painted postcard by the Anglo-Indian artist Frank Clinger Scallan (1870-1950) whose Kolkata series of nearly a dozen postcards reflects the pleasures of life in what was British India's largest metropolis.
Calcutta, The Jain Temple
A vibrant painted postcard by the Anglo-Indian artist Frank Clinger Scallan (1870-1950), part of a series he made illustrating the city he spent much of his life in.
Calcutta
Among the earliest known postcards of Kolkata, by a local and likely Austrian,photographer. Note the four tiny titles below each vignette for those eager to know.
Dancing Girls
Professional dancing girls were among the most popular early postcard subjects. These two dancing girls are probably from Lucknow as the painting in the studio background on the left recalls the Chutter Manzil in Lucknow.
An Arab Ship, Bombay Harbour
An atypical postcard that shows a ship in dry dock.
Washing Day Dhobi Washer Woman
A humorous colonial postcard comparing clothes washing in England and India, part of a larger artist-signed series by the large Kolkata retailer.
