before 1900

India

India

This 1892 Singer Manufacturing Co. advertising card for its sewing machines is probably the very first postcard of India, even if technically it was an ad card and not meant to be mailed with a stamp and address visible on the back.

[Original

Calcutta

Calcutta

Kalighat - Burning Ghat - Nautch Girl - Kali
One of the earliest "Greetings from Calcutta" postcards, by the German or Austrian photographer Werner Roessler who was based in the city and had the lithographic card printed in Austria from his

Hindu Temple

Hindu Temple

An early lithographic postcard, and among the rarer ones, by the artist Paul Gerhardt. It was printed in Karli, outside Bombay, at the Ravi Varma Printing Press where Gerhardt worked as a lithographer.

Calcutta

Calcutta

A very early lithographic postcard of Calcutta, postmarked as early as the first half of 1899, and published from Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Calcutta

Calcutta

[Original] Durga - Great Eastern Hotel - Telegraph Office - Snake Charmers [end]

A card from the earliest known series of Calcutta postcards by the Austrian photographer W.

Snake Charmer

Snake Charmer

Snake charmers are one of the most common early Indian postcard subjects, and this must be one of the earliest and most beautiful such views. Note the clever use of the palm backdrop to create the illusion of depth, and the rich use of red.

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