Backs Collection

Hindu / The Cosmic Turtle
In the ancient Indian cosmogony, the Earth is sustained on the backs of elephants who are themselves standing on the back of a cosmic turtle

Punting at Cambridge 1
Punting on the Cam (also known as the Granta) on the Backs at Cambridge; the famous Bridge of Sighs (modelled on the one in Venice) links parts of St Johns College

Cambridge / Backs / St Johns
Cambridge: the Backs, with the tower of St Johns College in the distance

Sealyham Riding a Sheep
Jimmie, a tame sheep belonging to Mr V. Payne, a garage proprietor of West Malling, Kent, takes its Sealyham doggy friend for piggy backs ! Date: 19 February 1937

Punting at Cambridge
A group of people punting on the River Cam at Cambridge, with Kings College Chapel in the background

Japanese women
Four Japanese dancers wearing traditional kimonos sit with their backs to the camera

Strawberry Pickers
A boy and a man picking strawberries in a field, with punnets strapped to their backs, on a farm near Cheddar, Somerset, England

Children paddling and looking out to sea
Mermaids. A back view of five children paddling at the seaside; they wear red stripey bathing drawers. Date: C.1905

Two Cats and a butterfly
Two siamese cats watch a tortoiseshell butterfly. Painting by Malcolm Greensmith

Coracle men - Carmarthen
Welsh Coracle men - Carmarthen, Wales. The Carmarthen coracle is of a rounder and deeper design, as it is used in tidal waters on the Tywi River, where there are no rapids. Date: 1905

Futuristic underwater croquet. The players are all wearing diving helmets with oxygen packs on their backs

Cambridge University
A glimpse of the beautiful Backs, and punters enjoying the River Cam, with St. Johns College, Cambridge University, peeping through the trees

WW2 - Ladies May Now Leave Their Machines
An illustrated front cover for a WW2 story book, Ladies May Now Leave Their Machines, written by Diana Murray Hill. The image shows the backs of wartime working women. Date: 1944

Cambridge - The Backs and St John's College Chapel - Painted by landscape artist Alfred Robert Quinton for the Sevenoaks based publishing and printing company J

Cambridge - Clare College from the Backs - Painted by landscape artist Alfred Robert Quinton for the Sevenoaks based publishing and printing company J

Trottins, Le Retour De L'Atelier
A coloured sketch which shows the backs of three ladies walking off towards some city buildings, arm in arm, speaking. Date: circa 1901

Au Cafe-Concert
This illustration shows the backs of a seated couple, comprising of a man smoking a cigar, wearing a top hat, and a lady looking through her Galilean binoculars, towards a female opera singer

Turtle racing in Australia
Preliminary Preparations for a turtle Trip--Riding on the Backs of the turtles Down to the Sea, in Australia. The shell of the turtle, which is as broad as it is long

Peat Collecting 1877
Peat collection in Loch Maree, Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Date: 1877

A page from Opal's precocious childhood diary which backs her claim to be a French princess who had emigrated to the U.S. : though truly extraordinary, not all believed it. Date: 1920

King's Chapel from the Backs, [Cambridge] by Terry Whitworth

Back view of two ladies walking along an unidentified sea front arm in arm. Date: c.1948-1952

A selection of Victorian laced or buttoned pointed boots. 1901

The Cult of Nudity - sunbathing fashions, 1930s
Page from The Sphere reporting on the growing vogue for sunbathing fashions, particularly backless swimsuits - a style that began at the fashionable French resorts of the Riviera

Two Zulu Mothers carrying their children, using hide slings across their backs - Southern Africa. Date: circa 1909

Jeanne D arc, Idealised
JOAN OF ARC An idealised representation - she fulfils Merlins prophecy that a virgin will come whose horse will trample the backs of bowmen

Pigeons - Frill-Backs and Scandaroons, Fancy Breed
A portait illustrating two Frill-Back and two Scandaroon pigeons. Both breeds are domesticated and a breed of fancy pigeon

Syrian Turks - Aleppo, Syria
Syrian Turks (Turks in Syria, Syrian Turkoman or Syrian Turkmen) - Syrian citizens of Turkish descent, living in the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire before its dissolution

Austro-Hungarian soldiers carrying munitions, WW1
Austro-Hungarian soldiers carrying munitions on their backs during the First World War. Date: 19 September 1917

Man and woman shadow boxing in the park in Hong Kong, backs to the camera. Woman with wooden sword, another woman left of picture

Children and grown-ups at shadow boxing class in a park, Hon
Children and grown ups at a shadow boxing class in the park in Hong Kong. Woman, to the left and man to the right of the picture, with backs to camera watching the class. Date: 1980

Men and young boys sitting on the beach in Oman
Salalah Sultanate of Oman. Omani men and boys sitting cross legged- backs to camera on the beach wearing traditional clothes. Date: 1977

Clan Gathering on the beach for meeting with Sultan Qaboos
Salalah Sultanate of Oman. Omani Clan wearing traditional clothes and hats sitting on the beach, backs to camera, for a gathering with Sultan Qaboos. Cameraman recording. Shoes on the sand. Date: 1977

Salmon Leap on Bush River, Bushmills - a view of a weir and to the left a mill and waterwheel. There are the backs of houses in the distance. (Location: Northern Ireland: County Antrim: Bushmills)

God backs British soldiers
This British soldier can go forward in confidence knowing that God will guide and guard him... circa 1914

Military / Training / German
German soldiers engaged in a variety of exercises - swinging from ropes to cross rivers, climbing on one anothers backs to scale walls, gymnastics &c. Date: circa 1850

Schoolgirls and teacher on a Christmas card
Four schoolgirls and their teacher on a Christmas card. (2 of 2) Date: circa 1890s

Four women in a shopping street, China (probably Hong Kong). circa 1930

A Ward, Quex Park VAD Hospital. This ward was located in the Drawing Room of Quex House. Originally built as a small ballroom in 1883

Two brothers pulling faces in a back alley, Eccles
Two young brothers pull faces at the camera in a back alley in Eccles, Manchester. Date: circa 1977

Japan - Nurses with their charges. Date: 1932

Anatomical details
Tab IV. Figures and diagrams showing anatomical details Source: De motu animalium - Joh. Alphonsi Borelli, Neapolitani matheseos professoris, De motu animalium

Two girls carrying babies, Japan
Two girls carrying babies on their backs, Japan. Date: circa 1890s

Two contrasting forms of transport, then and now. Above: a lady in a sedan chair, about to leave Hampton Court for home. Below: a rather more racy journey

Tatler front cover, 1963 - Punting on the Cam
Front cover of The Tatler featuring a view from Clare Bridge in Cambridge showing basking in the suns rays while lounging in the rivers famous punts. Date: 1963

Three women with firewood bundles
Three women resting on a stone wall, carrying large bundles of firewood on their backs

Advert for Dolcis shoes 1947
Distinctively Dolis. High heels slingback womens shoes. Date: 1947

Cambridge Punting Scene
A summers day scene on the Backs at Cambridge, showing Clare College, by the River Cam, Cambridgeshire, England. Date: 1950s

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