A 5.5x3.5" vintage half tone photo postcard from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of mostly UK antique postcards that we acquired from the Billie Love Historical Collection, a UK photographic archive.

* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order!

Photo Overview

Hand tinted antique postcard view of the medieval stone defense towers and ruined walls of the mountain village of Khani (Aoul du Khan) in highland Chechnya, Caucasus region, with two tall watchtowers dominating a dramatic valley landscape and distant slopes rising behind the fortress-like settlement.

The Caucasian tower villages of highland Chechnya formed part of an extensive defensive system in the North Caucasus, with many complexes dating back to the Middle Ages and rebuilt into the 18th and 19th centuries as local clans resisted imperial expansion. Early 20th century postcards of the Caucasus were popular with travelers on the Transcaucasian routes, but relatively few survive depicting remote Chechen aouls, so secure this scarce historical scene today before it disappears into another collection.

Text Present

Front - no printed caption visible.

Back bottom left (Russian):
???????. ?????? ?????. ????? ?? ???? ????.
Translation: THE CAUCASUS. Mountain Chechnya. Towers in the aoul (village) of Khani.

Back bottom left (French):
LE CAUCASE. Gornaia Tchetchnia. Les tours dans l'aoul du khan.
Translation: THE CAUCASUS. Mountain Chechnya. The towers in the aoul of the khan.

Back left vertical (Russian, publisher line):
???. ?-?? ????????? ?? ??????????.
Translation: Joint stock company Granberg in Stockholm.

Back top left in pencil:
BOOK175

Print analysis: Early colorized lithographed postcard by Swedish publisher Granberg, printed from halftone plates with hand tinting. The divided back, old Russian orthography (pre-1918) and publisher imprint indicate an original c1905-1915 printing from the period the photograph was taken, making this an original Type 1 postcard issue rather than a later reprint.

Condition: All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.