Kashmir Indian State Railways Poster | Vintage India Travel Art | K2 Mountain Wall Art | Tait c1930
It wasn’t difficult to promote the Indian state of Kashmir in the 1930s. By then, all of Europe’s largest mountains had been conquered. There were only two peaks left to climb… both in the greatest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. The mountains were the world’s highest, Mount Everest, located between Nepal and Tibet and the world’s most dangerous and difficult to climb K2, located in Kashmir. The mountain sits on the country borders of China, India and Pakistan borders. What better way to entice travellers and tourists to the region than by displaying an image of the famous mountain in all its glory?
The Kashmir Indian State Railways Poster was commissioned by the Indian State Railways and employed the services of the magnificently named graphic designer and poster artist Gerald George Wynne Trevreden Tait, better known as George T Tait. The artist created this stunning impression of the uncompromising mountain. K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, stands magnificently in all its grandeur. Its snow-capped peaks rise out from a sea of green mist created by the rolling Kashmir valleys below. The morning sky turns an invigorating shade of orange as the sun begins to crest the horizon attempting to warm the cold, azure waters of a lake at the foot of mountain’s base. Despite the poster’s calming, atmospheric and ethereal image, K2 is renowned for being the deadliest of the five highest mountains in the world.
According to the haexpeditions website, as of December 2021, 6,014 people had climbed Mount Everest. About 310 people have died attempting to reach the summit. Information provided on the arnabee website suggests that only 8,000 people have even attempted to climb K2. Of those, only 377 people have completed the ascent to its summit with 91 deaths recorded whilst making the dangerous ascent. Talking to reporters after failing to reach the summit, George Bell, a climber on the 1953 American expedition explained “It’s a savage mountain that tries to kill you.” With figures confirming that one person dies on the mountain for every four that reach the summit, we think he was right.
After Bell’s comments, K2 soon became popularly known as The Savage Mountain. It is just one of many names the mountain owns. It is also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, named after an early explorer of the area, Henry Godwin-Austen. The name Chogori, simply meaning ‘big mountain’ has been suggested as its local name, although there doesn’t appear to be much evidence to support it. In Chinese the mountains name is Qogir or Qiáogēlǐ Fēng and is referred to in Urdu as Lamba Pahar “Tall Mountain” pr Dapsang. It does however, enjoy other nicknames amongst the mountaineering community, including The King of Mountains, The Mountaineers’ Mountain, and The Mountain of Mountains.
The summit was only finally conquered in 1954. It was accomplished by Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli led by Ardito Desio. Furthermore, it took until 2021 before the uncompromising mountain became the final eight-thousander to be summited in the winter… accomplished by a team of Nepalese climbers, led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. To this day K2 is the only 8,000+ metre peak that has never been climbed from its eastern face. So there’s still a challenge awaiting you!
Other India Vintage Travel Posters
Vintage India Travel is just one of the many sights in India to be chosen to feature on Indian Travel Posters. Many were created by the Indian State Railways during the 1920s and 1930s.
How much is an original Kashmir Indian State Railways Poster worth?
Produced for Indian State Railways this delightfully atmospheric, moody poster image features part of the Himalayas range of snow-covered mountains with a misty Ratti Gali lake giving a reflection of the Jamgarh Peak in Kashmir. Original copies of this poster are still prized among collectors with one stone litho print selling for $2000 back in 2019.
There’s no argument from us, if you can find an original copy and can afford to buy it, you’re on to a winner. There’s nothing like owning an original vintage poster and they often make a great investment. Chances are in just a few years you’ll be able to sell it for more than you paid for it. Unfortunately, for most of us, an investment, even at the entry-level prices of the collectable poster isn’t even close to being a possibility. This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original and look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall. And who wouldn’t want a wonderful Indian mountain scene on the walls? Order your copy today and we’ll ascend it out to you before you can say K2!
