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.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Offset printed paper |
Brief description | Matchbox label for ‘Sundar Phool’ matches, Vallampatti, India, 20th century |
Physical description | Matchbox label for ‘Sundar Phool’ matches. The central image depicts a yellow, brown, black and orange sunflower or marigold with green and black leaves set against a blue ground. At the top of the design is the text ‘Sundar Phool’ or beautiful flower, in yellow with a black outline, ‘50’s price 15 Ps’ (paise) on the left hand side, ‘Safety Matches’ on the right hand side both in black, and ‘Lakshmanan Match Factory Vallampatti’ in black on a yellow panel at the bottom. The whole design is enclosed within a thin black border. |
Dimensions |
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Content description | Matchbox label depicting a sunflower or marigold |
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. |
Collection | |
Accession number | IS.124-2012 |
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Record created | January 8, 2013 |
Record URL |
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