Hyderabad, The Char Minar
Johnston & Hoffmann
The Inland Steamer "Serang"
Bengal's rivers were traversed by boats and steamers, on which this man served a captain. The firm he worked for, "I.G.S.N." is likely emblazoned on his shirt.
A Boothea Milkman
A studio portrait full of contradictions. The milkman from Darjeeling of Tibetan ancestry is shown with an English church in the deep background.
Zalra Tank, Ajmere
Better known as the Jhalra natural water tank adjacent to the tomb of the 13th century Sufi Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti. Hundreds of thousands of people come here each year for the urs (the anniversary of the death) of a Sufi saint.
Greetings From Calcutta
A very early postcard from one of Kolkata's largest retailers. Postmarked Dec. 2, 1898 and addressed to Master Geoffrey Corbett, Whiltey, Yorks., England: "To my godson & all his relations G.C. [sp?]."
A Benares Dancing Girl
Note how nicely the stamp is positioned in line with the woman's arms; according to the so-called "language of stamps" current at the turn of the century, this stamp position might mean the sender is asking "Do you love me?" or even "Your love
Cooly Woman, Darjeeling.
Although taken in the firm's studio, with the woman posing upright, one can from this portrait and the wooden beam infer the literally backbreaking work hillstation workers endured.
Hill Milk Women
This postcard is likely based on a portrait by Johnston & Hoffmann of 22 Chowringhee [also Chourangi] Road, Kolkata, one of the most storied photographic firms in British India.
A Group of 3 Nepaulese
This rare photograph of Nepalis was likely taken in the hillstation of Darjeeling in a studio.
The "Dhingy"
A small boat on the Hooghly, the "Captain Buxo." Hobson-Jobson defines "DINGY, DINGHY , s. Beng. diṇgī; [H. dingī, dengī, another form of dongī, Skt. droṇa, 'a trough.'] A small boat or skiff; sometimes also 'a canoe,' i.e. dug out of a single trunk.
