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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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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.Horse-drawn tram moving along Golovin Prospect in Tiflis with carriages, pedestrians, and historic buildings.Seven men in traditional Georgian clothing and fur hats pose together, one reclining in front while others stand and sit around him.
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