Postman
A portrait of the man who made the postcard revolution possible. While the original for this may have been a photograph of an actual postman, the broad strokes make it possible that a painted portrait was used as the source.
Men
Sir J. N. Tata
The "father of Indian industry." Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904) was born in Gujarat and graduated from Elphinstone College in Mumbai in 1858. He founded and sold a successful trading firm, and then built a successful cotton mill that since
Tom, Tom Beaters
A beautiful studio portrait featuring the "thammattama," drums used in Buddhist rituals in Sri Lanka. They may be derived from a frame drum used in Tamil Nadu, and their sound is said to have irritated British colonists.
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.
A Potter, Northern India
[Original caption] A Potter, Northern India. Fostered by "caste," the native craftsman remains, contentedly, throughout his life in that sphere of industry into which he was born.
Brahman
The Brahmin, as the art scholar Allan Life has noted, is reluctantly shuffling from tradition to modernity, from the temple behind him to the new city in front of him.
A Benares Brahmin
An early (undivided back) postcard from Bombay's premiere bookstore and important postcard publisher and retailer at the turn of the century.
Hon'ble Mr. P. Ananda Charlu
Much of the initial Independence struggle was peaceful, led by often hardly remembered Anglicized lawyers like Mr. P.
Borah Trader
Bohras are Gujarati Muslims known as a business and trading community; they flourished in Bombay during the late 19th century and Karachi since Partition for example. This postcard by M.V.
Indian Raja
"RAJA, RAJAH , s. Skt. rājā, 'king.' The word is still used in this sense, but titles have a tendency to degenerate, and this one is applied to many humbler dignitaries, petty chiefs, or large Zemindars.
