author
John Lockwood Kipling
1837–1911
An English artist, teacher, and museum curator, he spent much of his working life in India and helped shape how traditional crafts were taught, preserved, and presented. He is also remembered as the father of Rudyard Kipling, though his own career was rich and influential in its own right.
1 Audiobook
Beast and Man in India A Popular Sketch of Indian Animals in their Relations with the People
by John Lockwood Kipling
About the author
Born in Yorkshire in 1837, John Lockwood Kipling trained as an artist and began his career at what became the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He later moved to India, where he taught at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Bombay and then served for many years in Lahore as Principal of the Mayo School of Industrial Arts and curator of the Lahore Museum.
His work ranged across sculpture, illustration, design, and writing, but one of his lasting achievements was his support for Indian craftsmanship. He took a strong interest in local materials, techniques, and artisan traditions, and helped document and promote them through teaching, museum work, and published writings.
Lockwood Kipling also illustrated books, including works connected with his son Rudyard, and his experience of India left a visible mark on the cultural world around him. He died in 1911, and today he is remembered as a lively Victorian artist-administrator whose career linked British art schools, museums, and the craft traditions of South Asia.