Pictures of women images, dance elephants and Maharaja in traditional dress make photo credit for artistic scenes: courtesy: Map, Bengaluru
During the Indo-British textile trade, between the mid-19th and 20th centuries, some unique textile labels emerged. He was known as Tikat, Tikas or Chaps. They were not simple tags associated with clothes, they took imaginative and colorful scenes. Today, these textile labels are seen as cultural and historical markers.
A ongoing (till November) at the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bangalore is displayed on four hundred labels ‘ticket commentary chap, The Art of the Trademark of the Trademark’, the art of the trademark. Shrey Maurya, Director of Research-MAP Academy and Nathanial Gaslel, writer, editor and co-founder-MAP, Curate, Label in England at the exhibition, correspondence between traders and trademarking officers in England are correspondence, stamp marking which were implemented on cloth knots and some photos.
The map has a collection of 7,000 textile labels and Shrey and Guskel took the subject as an annual curatorial project. “Popular art is something we wanted to see this year. We felt close to two years to keep the exhibition together. A one-and-a-half year was spent on a large scale research and images,” Sri Share.
Images on the label are representatives of their time. Photo Credit: Courtesy: Map, Bengaluru
Labels carry diverse views – dancing elephants, Maharaja’s pictures, women in traditional dress, symbols of industrialization such as fans, telephones and buses, British imperialist symbols, religious icons and photos of Indian merchants. All tickets have a well -defined margin with the name of a business printed on them in English and regional languages.
Curator passed through 7,000 images and classified them into subject-based groups. “It was tired, but it opened a whole new world. The scene on the label was a meaning and it seemed to be wearing within many untold stories from the past. Creativity that went to make them, inspired us to branding and advertisement history,” Say.
He says that apart from the choice of Jyotindra Jain, Kajri Jain and Tasveer Ghar project, not much has been written about the textile label in the art-historical context.
Keeping the exhibition together, the curator consistently thought of people and about the processes behind the construction of these labels. “It was really complicated. Not only the trademarking process and printing, we wondered how they came with the idea of ​​images on the label and who pulled them. There is no record of artists.”
Shrey shared that images are representatives of his time. “Tickets are contemplated to society, culture, rituals, lifestyle and people’s options. In addition, the print revolution brought about an explosion in the imagination seen on these labels.”
The tickets were designed and printed in England and were directly associated with Major British Cotton Mills such as Graham Company, Manchester or clothes sold by some Indian traders who bought clothes and sold them in their names.
The exhibition shows correspondence between a Gujarat-based businessman and a printing establishment in Britain. The trader’s letter states: “This is the design I want; please make it and send it to me”. “Most of the traders located in India were writing to make the printer label for them in Manchester,” says Shri.
The registration and trademarking process was at a time and took place through letters and telegraphs. “There was a danger of rejection. The role of the trademark office was to ensure that the designs to escape the fight between traders were different, claiming that someone was trying to sell goods under their names.”
400 are on ticket performance. Photo Credit: Courtesy: Map, Bengaluru
Highlighting this process, the credit indicates the fine network among those involved in the construction of tickets. She cites an example of correspondence between a Gujarati businessman and a trademarking officer. “Since the merchant mentioned the design specifications in Gujarati, the printer sends a letter to an expert in Oriental languages ​​for translation.”
Maurya also highlights a ticket that is an accurate copy of an artwork performed by American artist Maxwell Parish in 1909 called ‘The Lactories Bearers’. “Somehow this image makes its way for England, where an artist takes drawing and changes the figures in Indian customers with saris-wheeled women. Despite the lack of technology, it is interesting to note that these people were not working in a vacuum, there was enough conversation and exchange,” Say.
(The exhibition is at Map, 22, Kasturba Road, Bangalore till 22 November.)
Published – May 27, 2025 05:11 pm IST
