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In 1903, a titan of world postcard production, England-based Raphael Tuck & Sons, set themselves further apart by issuing the vibrantly colored Oilette Series based on commissioned oil paintings. Among the first sets released was devoted to the mysterious Himalayan nation of Tibet.

Six paintings were prepared by the explorer and artist Henry Savage Landor who wrote about his travels to the region in his 1898 book, In the Forbidden Land. Tuck printed Landor’s paintings as lithograph postcards at a time when photos of Tibet were only first starting to circulate.

While a majority of Tuck’s pictorial stock focused on the English countryside, the Wide Wide World Series introduced colonial lands and other foreign cultures. Here the caption notes the use of Om mani padme hum, a six-syllable Sanskrit mantra common among Tibetan Buddhists.

The visual focus of Landor’s painting is the monk’s use of the prayer wheel, noted as containing the Buddhist “book of prayers.” As with others of his time, Landor was fascinated by the ritual object, describing its use in his published work on Tibet.

Landor’s six card set was the only set of Tibet Tuck published before it stopped operation during WWII. For a comprehensive digitized catalogue of Tuck Oilette cards, see www.tuckdbpostcards.org.

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