Matchbox Label
20th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Indian matchbox covers form part of India’s vibrant popular visual culture. These small boxes, sold for a few pence, are bold and colourful, some simple and naïve, others more complex and detailed. The images range from gods and goddesses, women, flowers, fruits, monuments, transport, tools, consumer goods and more. Successful covers are continuously copied and there can be endless variations of one particular image produced by rival companies. Many covers have a ‘retro’ feel about them because of this copying process, this also makes them difficult to date. Despite their ephemeral nature, they can convey historical, political and social information. Matchbox art dates back to the 1920s when India began producing its own matches from factories in Calcutta in Bengal and Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. Prior to this, matches were imported from Europe, mainly Sweden, and Japan. Early images reflect themes of nationalism while more recent images include planes, motorcycles and trucks.
The key as an icon on matchbox labels is popular both within India and other countries, such as Sweden where it arguably originated.
The key as an icon on matchbox labels is popular both within India and other countries, such as Sweden where it arguably originated.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Offset printed paper |
| Brief description | Matchbox label for 'Child Matches', India, 20th century |
| Physical description | Matchbox label for ‘Child De-Lux Quality Safety Matches’, the central image depicts a red key formed out of the letters ‘Child’, on a yellow ground and is surrounded by red and black borders, the words ‘50’s price 15 Ps’ (paise), ‘Safety Matches’, ‘Damp Proof’ (all in black) and text in Tamil (in red) are printed around the key; along the four edges of the label is a black border with the wording ‘Child De-Lux Quality Child Matches’ in yellow, the letters M, O, T, I in yellow are placed, one in each corner, on the black borders. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Matchbox label depicting a key |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Indian matchbox covers form part of India’s vibrant popular visual culture. These small boxes, sold for a few pence, are bold and colourful, some simple and naïve, others more complex and detailed. The images range from gods and goddesses, women, flowers, fruits, monuments, transport, tools, consumer goods and more. Successful covers are continuously copied and there can be endless variations of one particular image produced by rival companies. Many covers have a ‘retro’ feel about them because of this copying process, this also makes them difficult to date. Despite their ephemeral nature, they can convey historical, political and social information. Matchbox art dates back to the 1920s when India began producing its own matches from factories in Calcutta in Bengal and Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. Prior to this, matches were imported from Europe, mainly Sweden, and Japan. Early images reflect themes of nationalism while more recent images include planes, motorcycles and trucks. The key as an icon on matchbox labels is popular both within India and other countries, such as Sweden where it arguably originated. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.11-2012 |
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| Record created | July 20, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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