Group of women from Madras, showing way in which jewellery is worn

Full-length studio portrait of five women wearing jewellery, at Madras in Tamil Nadu, taken in c. 1870s, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections. This photograph is attributed to The Madras School of Industrial Arts which was an important training centre for photographers in the area, established in 1850. The two girls standing behind the three seated women are wearing the jewelled head-dress traditionally worn at marriage ceremonies or at 'rites of passage' ceremonies performed when a girl reaches puberty.