Simla, Grand Hotel Avenue
[Original caption] Grand Hotel Avenue – The town of Simla is beautifully laid out.
[Original caption] Grand Hotel Avenue – The town of Simla is beautifully laid out.
One of the earliest postcards of India published by a British-based firm, F. Hartmann & Co.
This promotional postcard for the British Empire Exhibition in London in 1924 was signed by Ernest Maitland Coffin (1868-1944), apparently a successful commercial artist.
[Original caption] Gwalior Fortress has figured in Indian history since the sixth-century and is situated on a precipitous, flat-topped, isolated sandstone hill, 300 feet above the town.
Probably the earliest Tuck's postcard of the Taj Mahal, from a Bourne & Shepherd photograph, before writing was allowed on the back.
Missionaries were prolific early publishers of postcards in India, using them for fundraising and general propagation of their work and activities.
[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.
A rare Tuck's "Real Photograph" postcard of India, which they seem to have offered in response to the market around the 1930s. The Mexican writer Octavio Paz describes the scene in 1951 when he first approached Bombay by ship:
"An arch of stone
This is what collectors call a "brushstroke" postcard, where the printer has slightly embossed the image.