British Illustrators 17: John Lockwood Kipling and The Jungle Book

Yes, we all know that “The Jungle Book” was written by Rudyard Kipling, but be honest, how many of us knew that the original illustrations for the book were made by Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling? I didn’t, that’s for sure.

I’ll be honest, I only found this out while researching who the original illustrator of Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” was. John Lockwood Kipling first moved to India from England in the 1860s to teach architectural sculpture at a school of Art in Mumbai, where he later became the school Principal. He was later commissioned by the government to make sketches of Indian craftsmen, and moved to teach in Lahore, where he also became curator of the original Lahore Museum. On retirement in 1893 he returned to England. John Lockwood Kipling’s work is that of a professional and highly competent professional artist of his era. In particular, the pencil and ink sketches he made of Indian craftsmen at work are very effective and evocative.

One shouldn’t speculate about the relationship between John Lockwood Kipling and his son Rudyard, but it’s hard not to. On the one hand Rudyard would call his own beloved son John, and turned to John Lockwood to provide illustrations for several of his works. On the other hand, certainly with “The Jungle Book” but also others of his works, childhood loss and abandonment are significant themes, and maybe this is a reflection of the trauma Rudyard went through when sent at age 5 to school in England.