Of Beasts and Men

Many of us have enjoyed the book, songs, movie and TV serials in various adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". Mowgli, the child raised in the jungle by animals; Baloo the bear; Bagheera, the black panther; Kaa, the python; and of course Sher Khan, the tiger; are all characters familiar to us.





But I did not know much about the father of Rudyard Kipling, John Lockwood Kipling, an architectural sculptor (at the Victoria & Albert Museum), curator, illustrator and educator, who taught at the J J School of Art, Mumbai and was Principal at the Mayo School of Industrial Art (now Pakistan's National College of Arts). I first got to see his work from a chance view of media coverage about a forthcoming exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum on his works. And that drew me to learn more about this interesting combination


John Lockwood Kipling illustrated the book covers of many of his son's books, like "Under the Deodhars" (seen alongside), and of course, "The Jungle Book". The works were a unique combination of drawings of Indian men, women, beasts, along with western practices of stylised alphabets, line drawings, compositions and sensibilities.

The Jungle Book, and The Second Jungle Book,
with original illustrations
by John Lockwood Kipling (from kobo.com)

For various editions of "The Jungle Book", there were more book covers, illustrations in chapters, and stylised alphabets at the beginning of chapters, like this "R" from the first page of a chapter "The Undertakers":

Illustration for a "Chapter capital" (!895)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:T2JB423_-_Jungle_Book_capital_R.jpg

There were fantasy drawings too, like this wonderful composition about Mowgli leaving the jungle. There is a large number of illustrations in other publications by John Lockwood Kipling too, like "Beast and man in India: A popular sketch of Indian animals in their relations with the people (1891) and "Tales of the Punjab, told by the people" (1891) both published by MacMillan and Co., London. Both father and son seem to have influenced each other greatly in their books and illustrations. 

Wood carver at Shimla,
pencil and ink drawing, 1970

Both seem to have been keen observers and listeners as well, of common people, their occupations, characters in epics and folk tales. 

This drawing was part of a project, where John Lockwood Kipling was commissioned by the government to tour the North India provinces, and make sketches of craftsmen. 

Thanks to this initiative by the government of the times, and the talent of Lockwood Kipling, we have a wealth of information on dresses, tools and occupations of those times, and all captured in beautiful detail.

I do think with so many of the traditional arts and crafts dying out in
India, such a project in current times would be a great idea too.

Artists, you do have to market yourself

A lot of artists shy away from marketing, saying their main job is to create, and not get de-focussed by other activities. It would be good for all of us artists to know, that the great Da Vinci had to market his skills too. The faster all artists learn to market themselves, the better off they will be!

While applying for a position with the Duke of Milan, Da Vinci customized his letter to the Duke's requirements. Being an inventor, engineer, architect, and military strategist, he could pitch for these talents to be used for warfare. He did add at the end of the letter that he could paint, too!

A wooden model of the bridge

We know of Da Vinci's phenomenal capabilities as a designer and thinker. Many of his designs are still considered "too modern" for execution! In 1502, Da Vinci proposed the design of a bridge to the Sultan of Constantinople, top span the "Golden Horn" inlet in Istanbul. The bridge if built, at a length of 1201 feet and a width of 79 feet, would have been the longest in the world. But the Sultan balked, thinking such a project would be impossible to execute. 

The completed Da Vinci bridge

The proposed bridge also included a "pressed bow" of 790 feet length, and 141 feet high clearance for ships to pass. Like many of Leonardo's innovations, the original drawing was misplaced, but was found more than 400 years later in 1952. Vebjorn Sand, a Norwegian artist saw the drawing in 1996, and proposed that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration use the drawing. The Oslo Leonardo Bridge Project completed in October 2001, and is a monumental ode to the genius of Da Vinci. 

The phenomenally talented Leonardo da Vinci wrote to the Duke thus after finding out about the palace requirements, and pitching the right skills (the painting skills are mentioned last):

“Having, most illustrious lord, seen and considered the experiments of all those who pose as masters in the art of inventing instruments of war, and finding that their inventions differ in no way from those in common use, I am emboldened, without prejudice to anyone, to solicit an appointment of acquainting your Excellency with certain of my secrets. 

Self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci,
chalk drawing, 1512

1. I can construct bridges which are very light and strong and very portable, with which to pursue and defeat the enemy; and others more solid, which resist fire or assault, yet are easily removed and placed in position; and I can also burn and destroy those of the enemy.

2. In case of a siege I can cut off water from the trenches and make pontoons and scaling ladders and other similar contrivances.

3. If by reason of the elevation or the strength of its position a place cannot be bombarded, I can demolish every fortress if its foundations have not been set on stone.

4. I can also make a kind of cannon which is light and easy of transport, with which to hurl small stones like hail, and of which the smoke causes great terror to the enemy, so that they suffer heavy loss and confusion.

5. I can noiselessly construct to any prescribed point subterranean passages either straight or winding, passing if necessary underneath trenches or a river.

The original letter by Da Vinci,
pitching his skills
(Source: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/
skills-of-da-vinci.html)

6. I can make armoured wagons carrying artillery, which shall break through the most serried ranks of the enemy, and so open a safe passage for his infantry.

7. If occasion should arise, I can construct cannon and mortars and light ordnance in shape both ornamental and useful and different from those in common use.

8. When it is impossible to use cannon I can supply in their stead catapults, mangonels, trabocchi, and other instruments of admirable efficiency not in general use—I short, as the occasion requires I can supply infinite means of attack and defense.

9. And if the fight should take place upon the sea I can construct many engines most suitable either for attack or defense and ships which can resist the fire of the heaviest cannon, and powders or weapons.

The last supper, Leonardo da Vinci,
Mural painting, 1495-1498

10. In time of peace, I believe that I can give you as complete satisfaction as anyone else in the construction of buildings both public and private, and in conducting water from one place to another.

 I can further execute sculpture in marble, bronze or clay, also in painting I can do as much as anyone else, whoever he may be.

Moreover, I would undertake the commission of the bronze horse, which shall endue with immortal glory and eternal honour the auspicious memory of your father and of the illustrious house of Sforza.

And if any of the aforesaid things should seem to anyone impossible or impracticable, I offer myself as ready to make trial of them in your park or in whatever place shall please your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all possible humility. 

Portrait of a lady, Leonardo da Vinci,
Oil on wood, 1490-1496

Leonardo Da Vinci”

(Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/
anthonykosner/2013/08/29/
leonardo-davinci-marketing-genius/#1c4895007386)

The employment did happen, and Da Vinci worked with the Duke for sixteen long years. He completed several important projects for the state, as well as many of his important paintings, including "The last Supper" for the Refectory of the Convent of Santa delle Grazi, Milan, and the luminous La Belle Ferroniere, said to be a portrait of Beatrice d'Este, wife of Ludvico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and Da Vinci's chief patron for all these years.

Well, even for such talents, employment was not certain, and Da Vinci worked pretty hard on the letter, his commissioned works and for state projects of Milan. So artists, you do have to use all your marketing skills!

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Colour Saffron

Saffron is widely used in Indian, Persian, Arab, Turkish and European cuisines. It is also used as a dye, and for its traditional healing properties. It is an autumn flowering plant, and saffron fields make a pretty sight, like this photograph in The Hindu newspaper today, of a girl plucking saffron flowers at a farm in Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar.

As per local legend, saffron first arrived in Kashmir in the 11th or 12th century AD, when two foreign and itinerant Sufi ascetics, Khwaja Masood Wali and Hazrat Sheikh Shariffudin, wandered into Kashmir. A tomb in Pampore is dedicated to the two saints. However, some scholars maintain that saffron has been grown in the Kashmir valley since two millennia, and came much earlier through Persian rulers or through trade routes.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_saffron

Here is an example of saffron being used to provide the yellow-orange hue, in a painting known for the earliest portrayal of Thomas Becket's murder in Canterbury Cathedral:



A huge amount of about half a kilogram of flowers are required to yield about 5 gm. of dried saffron. We know - from paintings again, as available in ancient palace frescoes - that monkeys helped in the picking of saffron flowers!

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/258128?pkgids=86

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/4303/1/The_Aegean_Garden.pdf

Bhimbetka cave paintings, near Bhopal

The Bhimbetka rock shelters in the Raisen district, Madhya Pradeh, India, have been declared a world heritage site. They contain a large number of paintings, some of which are more than 30,000 years old! The colours used are vegetable dyes, and the ones that have endured have probably done so being so deep inside the caves, or being inside rock niches.
The name Bhimbetka is said to have been derived from Bhima, one of the Pandavas, in the epic Mahabharata, and as per legend, Bhima sat here.
The paintings themselves are supposed to bear a significant resemblance to the Lascaux cave paintings in France. There are clearly scenes of hunting, dancing, and other community activities with large numbers of men, women, animals, birds, weapons and instruments.
It is wonderful that so much has survived of these cave paintings to the modern age, and that they do get shared and talked about from time to time:



Source: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/rocks-of-ages/article5075148.ece



Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/bhimbetka-a-treasure-of-prehistoric-art/article1260868.ece



Source: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/01/29/stories/2006012900410800.htm

Footfalls in the Memory

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
~ T.S. Eliot