Courtyard India Pavilion
The British Empire Exhibition in 1924 was promoted with many a series of postcards by British publishers, including a series by the artist Ernest Coffin, of which this though unsigned seems to be an example.
1920-1929
Central Assembly Hall - New Delhi
One owner of this card, not postmarked, wrote on the back: "Parliament Building, New Delhi cribbed from the Colosseum at Rome."
The photograph was probably taken soon after is was opened in January 1927 to serve the Imperial Legislative Council.
The Great Hero of India
Few if any politicians were as popular as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Maharashtrian politician and freedom fighter who spent many years in jail. He was referred to by British authorities as "the father of Indian unrest."
Japanese Explorer on Camel
It was not just European and American tourists who came to India; this unusual postcard shows a Japanese traveler on a camel with the guide helpfully holding up a Japanese flag. The camel bags still have English names on them though.
A Mohmand Grass Cutter
Mela Ram was a photographer who might have warmly welcomed the advent of the real-photograph as a way for his art to take precedence over the vagaries of publishing in collotype or halftone using hand-tinted color to enhance images (there are few
Tribal Towers
This image probably dates from the 1890s and was made by William Darcia Holmes, the father of Randolph Holmes who published these postcards from their Peshawar studio.
A Cancer Patient Arriving in a Basket
A rather unusual postcard, apparently made by a Christian missionary organization, possibly to showcase their support for patients and raise funds for their work.
India British Empire Exhibition
[Original caption] Through the portals of the INDIAN PAVILION twentieth-century London is left behind and the visitor enters the atmosphere of mystery and romance which characterizes the East.
Gateway at Bombay . . .
[Original caption] Gateway at Bombay to Commemorate the Landing of Their Imperial Majesties King George V & Queen Mary on 2nd December 1911. [end]
This card to celebrate the inauguration of the Gateway to India in 1924 was published in connection
Hotel Cecil
Hotel Cecil was one of the most famous European-owned hotels in Delhi and stood on an 11 acre park in Rajniwas Marg in Delhi's Civil Lines area. There were more than hundred rooms, a swimming pool and lush green lawns.
