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.

‘Kumari’ refers to the Hindi film star and poet Meena Kumari (1932-1972). Images of famous celebrities were frequently used to promote products, from matches to fireworks, with women particularly popular. Cigarette smoking Indian men were typically the main buyers of matches used outside the home, hence presumably explaining the popularity of images of beautiful women, or ‘sundari’ in Sanskrit, which adorned many of the matchbox labels. Indian ideals of feminine beauty are explored on the labels, with both Indian and non-Indian women appearing clad in a variety of outfits.