Rukmoni - The Famous Madras Beauty - Rangoon
To be a named "beauty" on a postcard was quite an honor at the turn of the century. Rukmoni is shown here in a studio with colorized backdrop.
People
Village Scene, Bombay
One of the classic Bombay images from the period, this "village scene" with unruly palm trees was reproduced in many formats by Clifton & Co. though it is this collotype version that is the most captivating.
Sent from Perim (an island near Yemen) to
Jaffna Tamil, Ceylon
An artfully placed stamp gives this card additional character.
Native Soldier
Another striking portrait by the great Indian artist M.V. Dhurandhar (1867-1944). This one was sent in 1905 by an Indian postcard collector, probably in Bombay, who pursued his hobby in a way that gives insight into early collector's fine tastes:
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Female Spinning, Jaipur
A popular Jaipur postcard shows a woman spinning cotton in front of a traditional door.
Kashmir beauty
An unusual coloured collotype by Kashmir's premiere postcard publisher. The pink seems to billow both outward from the frame and upward to the woman's face.
The Ruling Princes of India
A collage which would have been assembled from a variety of photographs, not a single sitting. In the bottom center with the black jacket is the Nawab of Hyderabad, the richest of them all.
A Mendicant
The term mendicant refers to begging or relying on charitable donations, and is most widely used for religious followers or ascetics who rely on charity to survive. Plate & Co.
Native Barber
Among the first postcards printed in India, from a lithograph by The Ravi Varma Press' chief lithographer, Paul Gerhardt.
Nestle's Swiss Milk 20th Punjab Infantry
Nestle, founded in 1867, claims on its website that its relationship with India started in 1912. Cards like this from approximately 1900 are evidence that the roots of this relationship extend back earlier.
