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Meqise Performing Massage, Scene 4

A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.

A traditional meqise applying deep-pressure massage in a Tiflis sulfur bath.

This photograph captures a traditional meqise at work inside a sulfur bath in Tiflis. The masseur employs a physically intensive technique, including standing on the client’s body to apply controlled pressure. The image documents a profession deeply embedded in the urban bath culture of 19th-century Tiflis.

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Facade of a 19th-century sulfur bath building in Tiflis with people gathered in front and a horse-drawn carriage nearby.Men standing and sitting at the entrance of the Tiflis sulfur baths, in front of a decorated architectural doorway.Stereoscopic street view of Abano Street in Tiflis with balconies, pedestrians, and horse-drawn carriages, photographed by Aleksandre Mamatsashvili, 1897.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.
Date
XIX century
Source
Georgian Museum of Photography
Attribution
Giorgi Gersamia Collection
Rights
Archive holding - Contact museum for licensing
Old TbilisiSocial Types, Trades & ProfessionsSocial Types – Kintos & Urban Characters