Central and South America stretch from the Caribbean coastline down to the tip of Patagonia, taking in ancient civilisations, colonial cities and dramatic natural landscapes, all reflected in this wide-ranging collection.
Machu Picchu is the standout subject in this collection. It was built around 1450 under the Inca ruler Pachacutec as a retreat for Inca nobility, high in the Peruvian Andes, before being abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Local Indigenous families always knew of the site, but it was the American historian Hiram Bingham, led there in July 1911 during a Yale expedition, who brought it to worldwide attention.
Christ the Redeemer, overlooking Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, is another landmark that recurs throughout this collection. First proposed in the 1850s, construction didn't begin until 1922, and the statue was completed on 12 October 1931 under the engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, with the figure itself sculpted by the Frenchman Paul Landowski. At around 30 metres tall, it remains one of the largest Art Deco sculptures in the world.
Postcards from Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica appear in this collection too, and we add new stock regularly.
