Custom Collection (page 4)

A Hindu Custom Now Suppressed: Preparations for a Suttee, 1908. From Harmsworth History of the World, Volume 2, by Arthur Mee, J.A. Hammerton, & A.D. Innes, M.A. [Carmelite House, London, 1908]

The procession of the Mahmal, Cairo, Egypt. The Mahmal was a pyramid of richly embroidered fabric over a wooden frame carried by a camel

A Bagobo, with filed teeth. Artist: The Bureau of Science
A Bagobo, with filed teeth. The Bagobo are a people of southern coastal Mindanao in the Philippines. A print from Customs of the World, Volume II Hutchinson and Co, Paternoster Row, London

Killing the fatted calf. Artist: Underwood & Underwood
Killing the fatted calf. The tradition of the killing of the fatted calf originated in the parable of the prodigal son in the New Testament. It represents a celebration that is out of the ordinary

Basuto girl brides during a period of initiation into the adult tribal society, Lesotho, 1922
Basuto girl brides during a period of initiation into the adult tribal society, Lesotho, Africa, 1922. From Peoples of All Nations, Their Life Today and the Story of Their Past

A young married couple, Macedonia, 1922. Artist: HB Crook
A young married couple, Macedonia, 1922. From Peoples of All Nations, Their Life Today and the Story of Their Past, volume IV: Georgia to Italy

Yeomen Warders on parade at the Tower of London, 1926-1927. Beefeaters being inspected on the occasion of escorting the governor of the Tower to St Peters Chapel, an Easter Sunday custom

Distribution of the Maundy Money by Yeomen Warders, Tower of London, 1926-1927
Distribution of the Maundy Money by Yeomen Warders, Thursday before Easter, Tower of London, 1926-1927. Beefeaters carrying out an ancient custom

Distribution of the Maundy Money, Thursday before Easter, Tower of London, 1926-1927. A policeman carries out an ancient custom

Women choosing bunches of mistletoe, Caledonian Market, London, 1926-1927. Kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas is a British tradition

Choirboys of St Clement Danes beating the boundary-marks on the Thames, London, 1926-1927. Boys in mortarboards take part in the old custom of beating the parish bounds

Boy dancers dressed as girls, the Yafouba tribe, West Africa, 1936. Artist: Wide World Photos
Boy dancers dressed as girls, the Yafouba tribe, West Africa, 1936. From Peoples of the World in Pictures, edited by Harold Wheeler, published by Odhams Press Ltd (London, 1936)

Visored mask of highland people, Africa, 1936. Artist: Wide World Photos
Visored mask of highland people, Africa, 1936. Probably from either the Dogon (Mali) or the Habe (principally Nigeria) tribe

Scandinavian girl wearing candle headdress on St Lucys Day, 1936. Artist: Fox
Scandinavian girl wearing candle headdress on St Lucys Day, 1936. The Santa Lucia festival, also known as St Lucys Day, is a Christian event based on Viking custom and takes place on December 13

Easter egg rolling, The White House, Washington DC, USA, 1908. Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of American president Rutherford B Hayes

A Gentoo Woman burning herself on the Funeral Pile of her Husband, 18th century. Artist: Samuel Wale
A Gentoo Woman burning herself on the Funeral Pile of her Husband, 18th century. The practice of Sati or widow-burning was finally banned in India in 1846. (Gentoo is a corruption of Telugu)

Raising the May-Pole, c1854. Artist: E Goodall
Raising the May-Pole, c1854. Villagers raise a traditional maypole

Tattooing, 1800-1900. Engraving to illustrate different tattooing styles from around the World. Negress, New Zealand Chieftain, New Zealand King, Caroline Islander, Hand and Foot of Dayak of Borneo

The grape harvest festival, Universal Exhibition of 1900, Paris, 1900. An illustration from Le Petit Journal, 4th November 1900

Mid-Lent, election of the Queen of the Queens, 1900. Artist: Oswaldo Tofani
Mid-Lent, election of the Queen of the Queens, 1900. Old Parisian custom of electing at Mi-Careme (mid-Lent) a Queen of Paris from Queens chosen by each of the 20 arrondissements, or wards, in Paris

Fatted Ox festivities, Villette, Paris, 1900. Artist: Oswaldo Tofani
Fatted Ox festivities, Villette, Paris, 1900. An illustration from Le Petit Journal, 11th March 1900

The float of harmony and peace, national fate, 22 September, France, 1892. Artist: Henri Meyer
The float of harmony and peace, national fate, 22 September, France, 1892. A print from the Le Petit Journal, 24th September 1892

The fires of Midsummers Day, 1912. A print from the Le Petit Journal, 30th June 1912

The Farandole, Andorra, 1891. Artist: Henri Meyer
The Farandole, Andorra, 1891. The farandole is an open-chain community dance popular in the County of Nice, France. A print from the Le Petit Journal, 11th April 1891

Jangseung, wooden totem poles, Korea, 1900. These figures were traditionally placed at the edge of a village to mark its boundary and to frighten away demons

Perforated standing stone, North Ronaldsay. Orkney, 20th century. Artist: CM Dixon
Perforated standing stone, North Ronaldsay. Orkney, 20th century. A single megalith known locally as the Stan Stane, simply meaning standing stone in North Ronaldsay

Proleek Dolmen, 21st century BC
Proleek Dolmen. Legend has it that if you throw a stone onto the roof and it stays there, you will be married within a year, 21st century BC

Raising the maypole on May Day in Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire

An Indian marriage painting from Lucknow, 18th century
An Indian marriage painting from Lucknow in the Mughal school, from the V&As collection, 18th century

Ceremony honouring Mariatale, goddess of smallpox, Negapattam, India, 1806
Ceremony honouring Mariatale, goddess of Smallpox at her temple at Negapattam, Southern India. A man, suspended by hooks and holding a sword and shield, is being swung through the air

Widow of a Brahmin committing suttee on her husbands funeral pyre, India, 1815. Despite attempts made from the 16th century to stop this practice

Native American funeral customs, c1870. A body left exposed on a raised wooden platform, in the manner practised by the North American Indians of the region of the Saskatchewan river

Grave of a Zulu chief, 1888. The body is in a sitting position in a stone-lined underground chamber. From History of Mankind by Friedrich Ratzel. (Leipzig, 1888)

Patagonian funeral procession, c1880

Sioux war dance, 1888. The Dakota Plains Indians of North America usually held four days of ceremonies before departing for battle. Ceremonies such as this induce a state of self hypnosis

Inside of a Funeral Hut, Tahiti, 18th century. Artist: John Webber
Inside of a Funeral Hut, Tahiti, 18th century

Plate 19: a family and a boy playing with a dog outside a house, from the series of customs and pastimes of the Spanish people, 1850

All Professionally Made to Order for Quick Shipping