Not currently on display at the V&A

Drawing

1870s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911) was born in Pickering, Yorkshire. His interest in art and design was aroused by a visit to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and he later became involved in the decoration of the Victoria and Albert Museum; he is depicted in a relief panel on the pediment of the Museum's Lecture Theatre. At the end of 1864, he was appointed Architectural Sculptor, one of three new posts for artist-craftsmen at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art and Industry in Bombay. This undated picture depicts an Englishman inspecting samples of cotton in a godown or warehouse in Salkhia, Bengal. The view is taken through a curved arch and shows the Englishman in the centre, wearing a topi, inspecting a piece of cotton, which a merchant is showing him. His servant stands by holding a fan and an umbrella, with a bulldog at his feet eyeing another dog, which is just outside the archway. The warehouse is full of stacked-up bales of cotton.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pencil, pen and wash on paper
Brief description
Drawing, from a series depicting cotton manufacture, pencil, pen and wash on paper, John Lockwood Kipling, Bengal, 1870s
Physical description
Drawing of an Englishman with merchants inspecting samples of cotton in a warehouse.
Dimensions
  • Height: 35.5cm
  • Width: 26.5cm
Object history
John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911) was born in Yorkshire and began his career as a designer and architectural sculptor. In the early 1860s, he joined the South Kensington Museum (as the V&A was then known) producing decoration for the new V&A buildings with terracotta architectural sculpture under the direction of Godfrey Sykes.

In 1865, Kipling left London for India and spent ten years in Bombay (now known as Mumbai) to teach at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art and became fascinated by Indian crafts. He was commissioned by the Indian Government to prepare a series of studies of crafts people and he visited the artisans in their workshops during a tour in 1870 that included Simla, Amritsar, Delhi and Lucknow.

In 1872 on a visit to Khamgaon in Berar he became fascinated by the process of cotton cultivation and produced a series of studies from life showing seeds being sown, filling gunny bags and farmers taking cotton to the market.

Kipling was a supporter of the Arts and Crafts movement in England which sought to re-establish the importance of good craftsmanship and design in the face of rapid industrialisation. His beliefs strongly influenced his teaching and when he was appointed Principal of the Mayo School of Art (today Pakistan’s National College of Arts) and curator of the adjoining museum in Lahore, he promoted the study of traditional crafts.

John Lockwood Kipling was the father of Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book and Kim.

Transferred from the India Museum in 1879. 1880 Register Entry: [ Room 8. On The Wall.] '0930. NINE FRAMES, glazed, each containing two sketches, by J. L. Kipling, of the School of Art, Bombay. Illustrations of cotton culture. 3 to 9, 9a, 10 to 19'
Subjects depicted
Summary
John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911) was born in Pickering, Yorkshire. His interest in art and design was aroused by a visit to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and he later became involved in the decoration of the Victoria and Albert Museum; he is depicted in a relief panel on the pediment of the Museum's Lecture Theatre. At the end of 1864, he was appointed Architectural Sculptor, one of three new posts for artist-craftsmen at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art and Industry in Bombay. This undated picture depicts an Englishman inspecting samples of cotton in a godown or warehouse in Salkhia, Bengal. The view is taken through a curved arch and shows the Englishman in the centre, wearing a topi, inspecting a piece of cotton, which a merchant is showing him. His servant stands by holding a fan and an umbrella, with a bulldog at his feet eyeing another dog, which is just outside the archway. The warehouse is full of stacked-up bales of cotton.
Bibliographic reference
Bryant, Julius and Weber, Susan, John Lockwood Kipling: Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London Newhaven: Yale University Press, 2017 pp. 534-5, cat. 101
Other number
18 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
Accession number
0930:17/(IS)

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Record createdMay 23, 2005
Record URL
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