Drawings from frescoes at the Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad

George Wilkins Terry, one of the first principals of the Sir JJ School of Art, Bombay (Mumbai) and also the curator of the V&A Museum, Bombay (1868-72), fostered a spirit of cooperative cultural exchange between the two institutions. In 1858, Terry took over as head of the School and was joined by Lockwood Kipling, the father of the famous author Rudyard Kipling, who was in charge of sculpture and ornamentation; and John Griffiths, who was in charge of decorative painting. Given the strategic importance of pottery and porcelain as an economic product, Terry had attempted to study local traditions and had started a small kiln at the School. The local kumhars or potters, who came from Gujarat originally, were not a highly skilled group, so he decided to bring in a potter from Sindh. This extraordinary enterprise, combining people of different religions, communities, traditions and expertise, produced a range of beautiful pottery that was in constant demand and always sold out in the first week of the ​International Exhibitions.

Meanwhile, Griffiths, who became the principal of the School on Terry’s retirement in 1882, had embarked on a major project to document the Buddhist caves of Ajanta, which had been ‘​re​discovered’ by Captain John Smith in 1819. The paintings and murals represent the acme of Indian art​.​ Griffiths was captivated by their beauty and refinement. From 1872 to 1885, he took his students to Ajanta to make copies of the murals and the decorative panels. These copies provided the inspiration for the decorative elements on much of the pottery. ​This confluence of styles and shapes lasted only as long as Terry took a personal interest in the project. In fact, it was initially known as Terryware and only later acquired the exotic name of ‘Wonderland Art Pottery’.

Image courtesy: Sir JJ School of Art