Colonial India & The North-West Frontier (2 Viewers)

[PolarBear]

I am starting a new thread for images of India and the North-West Frontier during the heyday of the British Empire. As you all know I an an image scavenger always on the lookout for interesting photographs or illustrations. As I find new "gems", I shall post them here. Where possible I will include toy soldiers that are related to the images. I hope you will enjoy this thread that allows me to share this interest with my fellow collectors.

"The Prince of Wales Tiger-shooting with Sir Jung Bahadoor: the Critical Moment," from the Illustrated London News, 1876 (with later hand coloring)

 

[PolarBear]

Here is Wm. Hocker's set 98 "Tiger Hunt in Bengal" for compariison:

 

[PolarBear]

William Simpson (1823-1899) was a British artist and war correspondent. In the late 1850s he was sent to India to record the recent events of the Sepoy Rebellion (Indian Mutiny). In 1878 he was sent to Afghanistan to report on the Second Afghan War

"The Governor-General's state howdah," a chromolithograph by William Simpson, 1867

Note: A howdah, or houdah, is a carriage which is positioned on the back of an elephant, or occasionally some other animal, used most often in the past to carry wealthy people or for use in hunting or warfare. It was also a symbol of wealth for the owner, and as a result were decorated with expensive gems. The tiger hunters in the previous illustrations are riding in howdahs.

 

[Andanna]

Great idea. I love the images and it exposes me to a chapter of history/art that I would normally not be drawn to.

 

[PolarBear]

One of my favorite film directors was David Lean. Four of my all-time favorite films are his: Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, and A Passage To India. I love the epic nature of his stories, the time period that they explore, and above all else the beauty of their cinematography, characterized by their unforgettable breath-taking images. His visual style has been a major influence on me and one of the reasons I fell in love with the cinema.

Among the images I shall post in this thread are scenes from A Passage To India which does an excellent job of capturing the Raj and British India in the 1920s

Here is a link to background information about the film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Passage_to_India_(film)

The 1st image I wish to share is the arrival of Adela Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Dr. Aziz by elephant at the Malabar Caves.

 

[aujj65]

I am starting a new thread for images of India and the North-West Frontier during the heyday of the British Empire. As you all know I an an image scavenger always on the lookout for interesting photographs or illustrations. As I find new "gems", I shall post them here. Where possible I will include toy soldiers that are related to the images. I hope you will enjoy this thread that allows me to share this interest with my fellow collectors.

Randy,

A very interesting period of history and hopefully should be a long thread

I hope you don't mind me sharing this photo of a SoldierPac recast set painted by my wife some years ago.

Jeff

 

[GICOP]

Excellent idea for a new thread Randy.

Cheers

Martyn

 

[PolarBear]

Randy,

A very interesting period of history and hopefully should be a long thread

I hope you don't mind me sharing this photo of a SoldierPac recast set painted by my wife some years ago.

Jeff

Jeff

By all means I hope folks will contribute. That is a stunning set and paint job. Are the castings still available for it?

 

[PolarBear]

Romance of the Frontier

In the 1950s, the Indian Tourist bureau and Indian State Railways issued travel posters meant to conjure up the romance of the Khyber Pass and the North-West Frontier. The same nostalgia and sense of adventure still inspires novelists, film makers and yes, toy soldier collectors.

Poster 1

 

[PolarBear]

Poster 2

 

[PolarBear]

Beer Baron in India

George Moerline, a member of the family who started the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., "the beer that made Cincinnati famous" traveled the world as did many well-to -do Americans during the Gilded Age. In this chromolithograph below he is shown with members of his traveling party in India in 1874. In 1888 the brewery published a book (A Trip Around The World) of his global travels illustrated with 110 pictures including this one. Moerlein and his friends are dressed in the typical tropical whites of the period, sport mustaches and helmets with pugrees. A servant with fan to cool the gentlemen stands in the background. This lithograph was likely based upon a photograph taken in India.

 

[PolarBear]

By Steamship To India

In 1891 the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company of Great Britain published a book with many color plates and pencil sketches entitled P & O Pencillings. The illustrations were drawn by artist William Whitelock Lloyd who in 1879 had been a Lieutenant serving in the 24th Foot during the Anglo-Zulu War. Lloyd has left us many sketches of that conflict. In civilian life he became the official artist for the P&O. This book was his pictorial record of his 1890 voyage from Southampton via the Suez Canal to India on board the P&O liner SS Himalaya. The book was comprised of many color plates and pencil sketches. The book gives an idea of what life was like on one of these cruise ships headed for the Indian subcontinent. In a later post I will show you images he created while in India.


Cover:

 

[PolarBear]

Plate A

 

[PolarBear]

Plate B

 

[PolarBear]

Plate C

 

[PolarBear]

Plate D

 

[PolarBear]

Another shot from David Lean's A Passage To India:

Alec Guinness as the eccentric Brahmin scholar Professor Godbole

 

[PolarBear]

Hollywood's fascination with Colonial India & The North-West Frontier in the 1930s: Lives of A Bengal Lancer (1935) starring Gary Cooper (India and British Army on NWF)

 

[PolarBear]

Another from the 1930s: 1937: Victor McLaglen the British star of silent films is viewed with Shirley Temple ( the child prodigy star in a still for 'Wee Willie Winkie' about a small girl becoming the mascot of a British regiment in India, adapted from a story by Rudyard Kipling (India and British Army on NWF)

 

[PolarBear]

1939 Gunga Din based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling. Main cast Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Victor McLaglen (India and British Army on NWF)