Box
Johair Singh
Category
Wooden objects
Date
1879 - 1909
Materials
Hardwood, gesso
Measurements
54 x 213 x 116 mm
Place of origin
Lahore
Order this imageCollection
Bateman's, East Sussex
NT 761728
Caption
In July 1909 John Lockwood Kipling decorated the lid and sides of this cigar box for his son Rudyard. The hardwood box had been made in 1879 at the Lahore Central Museum by Johair Singh. He decorated it with an inscription and a relief decoration of oak and ash and he inscribed the sides of the box in gesso work with most of the last two lines of Rudyard’s poem ‘A Tree Son’ (1906): ‘England shall bide till Judgement Tide in oak & ash’. Intimate objects such as this cigar box showcase Kipling’s great dexterity at relief modelling. Gesso work was a traditional skill taught at the Mayo School of Industrial Arts in Lahore where Kipling was an instructor.
Summary
A hardwood cigar box made in 1879 by Johair Singh and decorated in gesso by John Lockwood Kipling in 1909. The lid has oak and ash leaves,the sides inscribed 'England shall bide till judgement Tide in oak and ash'. The words are taken from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'A Tree Song' (1906). Inside of lid inscribed 'Made by Johair Singh / Lahore Museum 1879 / Inscribed to R.K. July 1909 by J.L.K'.
Marks and inscriptions
"England shall bide till judgement tide in oak and ash and thorn" Lid inscribed inside "Made by Johair Singh, Lahore Museum 1879 and Inscribed "to R.K. July 1909 by JLK"
Makers and roles
Johair Singh, maker John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911), decorator
References
John Lockwood Kipling: Arts & Crafts in the Punjab and London (Ed.Julius Bryant and Susan Weber) published in conjunction with the exhibition, the Victoria & Albert Museum, 14 Jan - 2 Apr 2017; Bard Graduate Center, New York: 15 Sept 2017 - 7 Jan 2018., p. 96