Carpentry In British Era Malabar, 1910 Postcard

Carpentry In British Era Malabar, 1910 Postcard

This is an old 1910 photo postcard of carpentry work in the British-era Malabar region. Shown in the postcard is a team of busy carpenters. Busy with what seems to be furniture carpentry. Visible partially is a huge rope and wheel apparatus. This is a hand-operated woodworking lathe since electricity was not available at that time. Today sophisticated machines do the carpentry work turning out simple to complex wooden products with ease.

Kerala’s traditional architecture was once very popular in a bygone era. Probably influenced a little by the Chinese and Portuguese styles. The Chinese maritime traders were prolific visitors to Kerala a century before the Portuguese arrived in 1497. It is believed that the woodwork of the temples and also traditional homes of Kerala are some of the best in the world. In the British era, Malabar was a district under the Madras Presidency. And stretched from today’s Northern Kerala to the border of the state of Cochin (now Ernakulam district) in the south.

See my post Chinese Boats On The Malabar Coast – Old Print 1746.

Did you know- huge Uru’s or wooden ships were made near Calicut from ancient times till some years back. 

From the collection- 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal On Paper (#2)., Crawford Market Mumbai – Old Photo 1905., Bombay Victoria Terminus-VT – Old Print 1897., View Of Cochin – Antique Hand coloured Plan 1704., Rare Nilgiri Mountain Railway Steam Locomotive Blueprint