A Fair Musician
Among the Paul Gerhardt postcards published by The Ravi Varma Press, this seems to be one of the rarer ones. Postally used in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov.
Paul Gerhardt
Paul Gerhardt was one of the very first people to produce artist-signed postcards in India. As chief lithographer at the Ravi Varma Press, he arrived in Bombay with the press machinery in the early 1890s. The working language at the Press was German, and lithographers at the time were highly trained technicians and artists. Gerhardt was a painter as well, at times working with the Varma brothers whom he befriended and was admired by (as the younger Varma's diaries record). These postcards, which can be firmly dated to a contract and some of which are signed and dated in 1899, were his own work. Some may date to 1898, and some are not signed but likely from similarities in style and backs to have been drawn and produced by him at the Press.
Europeans Travelling on the Palanquin
A very early postcard most likely drawn by lithographer Paul Gerhardt and printed at The Ravi Varma Press, although this is not certain and is based on its similarity to other signed Gerhardt postcards in its use of leaves and trees and background.
Dancing Girl
One of the earliest postcards of a "dancing girl" printed in India. Nach [or Nautch] women among the most popular subjects of early postcards of India.
Bombay
The Jama Masjid is a mosque in the Kalbadevi neighborhood, near Crawford Market in the South Mumbai region of Mumbai, India.
Van Gari Woman
This particular postcard is among the hardest of Gerhardt's early works for The Ravi Varma Press to find, despite the effective use of depth of field to bring life to the scene.
Fisher Woman
An early postcard and theme of Bombay artists, the fisher woman, with a basket of fish on her head. A fishing vessel is in the background, its mast at an angle which adds energy to her pose.
An Indian Woman travelling in the Manshil
A very early postcard printed in India, most likely by The Ravi Varma Press and drawn by its chief lithographer Paul Gerhardt.
Bear-Leader (Darweshi)
A very early lithographed card by Paul Gerhardt, who ran the lithographic printers at the Ravi Varma Press.
Sent to Miss Ettoi Virmillion, 52 West & South, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, via San Francisco: [Recto] "Bombay 22 March 1905. Very bare. Will"
Elphinstone College
One of the most educational institutions in India, Elphinstone College was established in 1856. Graduates include Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sir Pherozshah Mehta, and Jamsetji Tata.
Tanjore dancing girl
Among the first series of postcards printed in India by The Ravi Varma Press, this lithograph by the German artist at the Press, Paul Gerhardt, shows how in these very early days, placing the title was not quite fixed by convention, It could easily
