Sir J. J. School of Art

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The Sir J. J. School of Art was founded in March 1857 with a donation offered by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy, after whom the school is named.

Located in Mumbai, India, it is a sister institution to the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, which was split off from the original School after India's Independence in 1947. (A history of this institution may be found in that article.) Lockwood Kipling, father of the author Rudyard Kipling, was a principal of this school, and Rudyard was born on its campus.

The first art class was started at the Elphinstone Institution on March 2, 1857. In 1878, the school moved to its own building where it is currently situated.

It has been affiliated with the University of Mumbai since 1981, and offers degrees in fine art and sculpture. The degree course in sculpture was started in 1983. From 1988, the college has also offered a Master's degree in fine art.

Its alumni included some of India's best-known artists, including V.S.Gaitonde and S.H. Raza. (See "Well-known Alumni" below.)

Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy founded the institute through an endowment of Rs. 100,000 made in 1833. Born into a clerical Parsi family, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy was also a shareholder in Bombay's first English newspaper, "Bombay Courier." By 1829 he had become one of the leading members of his community. He was a visible patron of educational and social reforms in the mid-nineteenth century.

Classes in draughtsmanship started in 1857. Lockwood Kipling, the father of Rudyard Kipling, started classes in modelling, painting and ironwork in 1866. John Begg started the first course on architecture in 1900. John Begg came in 1901 as Consulting Architect to Mumbai. In 1906 he became Consulting Architect to the Government of India.

George Wittet, an assistant to Begg, turned the course into a complete 4-year programme in 1908. Claude Batley became a visiting professor in 1917 and was the principal of the School between 1923 and 1943. In 1996, the Claude Batley Architectural Gallery was opened in the School, made available free of cost to architects for exhibitions.

But the charm of the J J School of Art is such that no alumni will be just full of complaints. There is something or the other about the grand establishment they cherish. The beautiful structure of the school building itself has been a source of inspiration to many during their times here as a student. If it indeed is the ambience of the institute that can help create leading artists, the Friends of J J School of Art Trust is right in giving priority to restoring the heritage of art school before irreparable damage is caused to it.

JJ School of Art gears up for restoration

Sir JJ School of Art, a heritage institute is all set to be restored and bear a look that’s fresh, contemporary and justifying its vast collection of art that has been stashed away for so long. JSW foundation along with noted conservation architects Vikas Dilawari and Abha Lamba will be giving this milestone in history its desired platform

The quaint stony interiors of Sir J J School of Art, the Mecca for art in its various forms is going to see its heritage being restored, a step though late, but well deserved. The Government of Maharashtra and the Jindal South West Foundation (the social development arm of the group) have joined hands to undertake the restoration and development work. “The work will be carried out in three areas viz. selection-documentation-displaying the paintings in the exhibition, restoration of the Deans bungalow and restoration and interior development of the main building,” reveals Mukund Gorakshkar, group head CSR, JSW foundation.

Woks of renowned artists like Abalal Rehman, Deuskar, Trindade, Halankar, Mali, Raza, Laxman Shreshtha and sculptures like of Mhatre, Jog, Vitthal Kamat etc. remain stacked up here in an abysmal state. This invaluable gold mine for a collection of paintings and sculptures will be documented for the first time through this project.

“Vikar Dilawari and Abha Lamba, both conservation architects of Mumbai will be submitting a proposal to the heritage committee in order to carry out the restoration of the Dean’s bungalow and facelift and interior development of the main building, after obtaining the approval respectively,” adds Gorakshkar. He adds further, “Dilawari had independently developed a restoration project for the Deans bungalow and we joined hands with him to act as a catalyst in seeing this project through. Suhas Bahulkar, ex-faculty of the school will undertake the task of selection and documentation of paintings and sculptures and will also curate the exhibition.”

Dilawari states that the Deans bungalow has not been in used for more than five years now, and the property is decaying with all the priceless collection of art dumped inside it. “We want to make an adaptive use of this place by carrying out minimum alteration and restoration of the forgotten glory,” explains Dilawari. As per the project the area around the bungalow will be developed into an open court for displaying the sculptures, a contemporary exhibition gallery which provides an interactive space. The bungalow itself will be developed into an art museum, cafeteria and an art shop.

The recent Government Resolution (GR) has given the approval of contract to carry on work to JSW foundation as opposed to its earlier criterion of the contract to be handled by the Public Works Department. The government has set up several committees under the GR, comprising of the school faculty experts, advisors and bureaucrats. Students of the school are likely to be involved in this project.

Sir JJ School of art campus is classified as Grade II heritage structure under the Government of Maharashtra Urban Development Department and the proposed work will be undertaken within the framework of the heritage guidelines. According to Gorakshkar the cataloguing of paintings and sculptures will be kick-started immediately and the rest will follow once the approval from the heritage committee is obtained. The entire project is likely to be completed within two and a half years and the space will be open for public interaction with art.

JJ School of Art gears up for restoration

1857 was a significant year in the history of India in yet another way. This year saw the foundation of Sir J. J. School of Art with the munificent donation of Rs. 1,00,000 from Sir Jamshedji Jeejibhoy the first Baronet. The first drawing class was started at the Elphinstone Institute under the management of a Committee, headed by the then Chief Justice of Bombay. Subsequently in 1866, three ateliers for (i) Decorative Paintings, (ii) Modelling; and (iii) Ornamental Wrought Iron Work were established and the management of the School was taken over by the Government. The School started functioning in, the present building in 1878. Drawing teaching as a subject was introduced in 1879 and facilities for training of Drawing Teachers was started in 1893.

Due attention was also paid for the development of indigenous arts and crafts by this School. Mr. Griffiths who took charge as a Principal of the School in. 1865 undertook the work of copying Ajanta murals in 1872 and finished it in 1881. His efforts with the able assistance of J. J. Students projected the first pictorial record of great Ajanta murals before the public. The students of Modelling atelier also contributed at the same time to the ornamental details on the Victoria Terminus University Building and other buildings in Bombay.

In 1891 the Lord Reay Art Workshops (now known as the Department of Art-Crafts) were established. In 1896, the Draughtsman's classes, the nucleus of the Department of Architecture were added. This Department was later organised for a 3 years Diploma Course which was duly recognised by the R.I.B.A. Board.

In 1910, Sir George Clarks Studies and Laboratories were built for the advanced study of crafts, pottery being the first craft taken up for study. Pottery produced by this Laboratory achieved perfection and was acknowledged in several exhibitions in London, Antwerp, Amsterdam and other places. In 1929, the School was converted into a separate Art Department and the Principal was redesignated as Director. Subsequently in 1935, the Department of Commercial Art was also started.

With the dawn of Independence in 1947, the School saw rapid changes, both administrative and academic. By that time, the first Indian Director, Shri. V.S. Adurkar had been appointed. In view of the expanding activities of the institution, it became inevitable to separate the Departments of Architecture and Applied Art and in 1958 Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art came into existence. In this year of 125th Anniversary of Sir J. J. School of Art, steps are being taken to elevate the art Diploma to the status of University Degree with a view to widening its academic scope, leading to postgraduate training and research.

Sir J. J. School of Art has played a great role in the cultural development of this country. From this School had come painters, sculptors, architects and graphic designers whose work won warm encomiums and unstinted praise from critics and admirers of India and abroad. The murals painted at the Secretariat complex in New Delhi in 1928 and at National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla in 1954 are few of this School's outstanding contributions. The monumental four tons Bronze Cast of Ashok Emblem at the dome of New Council Hall at, Bombay is one of the recent works skillfully executed by the students and teachers of this school.

Indian P & T Department is happy to issue a commemorative stamp on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of this Institution.

(The above text is based on material supplied by the sponsors).

Description of Designs: The stamp was designed by M.D. Patel, a student of Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art, Bombay. The first day cover shows the building of Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. Cancellation was designed by Charanjit Lal.

Date of Issue: 2.3.1982

The first art class was started at the Elphinstone Institution on March 2 1857. In 1878, the school moved to its own building where it is currently situated.

Sir J. J., Bombay's Most Worthy Son

ONE of the nicest things to have happened in the city recently, has been the restoration of the portrait of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, First Baronet, a great son of India.

For this, we have to thank Kekoo Gandhy (of Gallery Chemould and Chemould Frames) for his efforts in initiating the restoration work at the J. J. School of Art, and Hungarian painter Laslo Seres, who did the job with enthusiasm and skill, not charging a cent for it.

This is called a true labour of love, and perhaps no single individual in the history of Bombay city deserves it more than the philanthropic Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, whose entire life was a personification of charity.

Philatelist Vispi S. Dastoor, an illustrious and industrious research scholar of the Parsi communitty, provides us with the following interesting facts on the life and times of the noble Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, who was born to a poor Parsi family and became an orphan at a very early age. Yet, he left behind a legacy of tremendous compassion and charity for the citizens of Mumbai.

Jamsetjee, the youngest son of cloth weaver Jeejeebhoy and his wife, Jeevibai, was born in the `Yatha Ahu Vairyo Mohalla' near the Crawford Market in Bombay on July 15, 1783.

He lost his parents early in life, and did not have the blessings of a formal education, something he greatly missed and which prompted to open several boys and girls schools and colleges in the city when he became an affluent man in later years.

But life was hard for the young Jamsetjee. He began as an unschooled apperentice to his uncle, Framji Baltivala (notice the appropriateness of the surname!), who sold empty glass bottles out of a shop at Fort. During the three years that he worked with his uncle, he obtained his first hand experience of trade and commerce, and also studied Gujarati, English and elementary accountancy by the dint of his own efforts.

Tales of the achievements and exploits of Hirji Readymoney (notice the `bawaji' surname again!), the first Parsi trader to visit China in 1756, inspired Jamsetjee to undertake a voyage to China himself. It was the subsequent voyages that brought him immense wealth. Those were the days when widespread smuggling of silk and opium by unscrupulous traders was taking place, but from the beginning, Jamsetjee displayed his integrity. Although he was then only 17 yearsold, Bombay businessmen extended finance and credit to the extent of Rs. 40,000 (a grand sum in those days), in recognition of the young Parsi's genius for commerce.

Through hazardous voyages to and fro, he amassed great fortunes, but tragegy struck him on February 18, 1803, when the great fire of Bombay, that burnt half of Fort, reduced Jamsetjee's home and wealth to ashes. During those trying days when hundreds of people were rendered homeless, two Parsi businessmen came to their rescue. Naoroji Sett opened the doors of his bungalow to home the homeless, and Pestonji Bomanji Wadia gave food to hundreds at his palace at Parel.

Jamsetjee was not one to cower under misfortune. He undertook his voyages to China again, and made good his losses. By the age of 40, he had made over two crore rupees, a staggering sum in those days. Further riches came to him from cotton trade during the Napoleonic Wars. He bought his own fleet of ships. Said Lord Elphinstone, then Governor of Bombay, of Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, "By strict integrity, by industry and punctuality in all his commercial transactions, he contributed to raise the character of the Bombay merchant in the most distant markets."

All along, Jamsetjee's partner was his uncle with whom he began his humble career as a bottle-seller, Framjee Batlivala, whose daughter, Avabai, became Jamsetjee's wife when he was 20, and she ten. They enjoyed wedded bliss for 56 years, had seven sons and three daughters, of which four sons and two daughters died in infancy.

After the death of his uncle (and father-in-law), Jamsetjee took Motichand Amichand (a Hindu) and Mohomedali Rogay (a Konkani Muslim) as his partners in the firm Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Co., and their efforts were enormously successful.

Side by side with his business activities, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy undertook several charitable projects, all of a cosmopolitan nature.

He spent Rs. 1,45,403 to set up the Sir J. J. Dharamshala at Bellasis Road, and till today immumerable old and destitute people receive free food, clothing, shelter and medicines. All their needs for the past 150 years, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, have been looked after by the Dharamshala, the first free home for the elderly in Asia.

Jamsetjee later founded the J. J. Hospital and the Grant Medical College (named after his friend Sir Robert Grant, then Governor of Bombay). He also instituted, for a sum of Rs. 18,000, the Sir J.J. Books, Prizes and Medals Fund in order to encourage medical students, and in 1851, for the benefit of poor women, he opened the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Obstretics Institution.

He was also a great champion for the rights of women. On March 9, 1840, for the first time, ladies of his family appeared in public amongst men of different communities when he gave a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert.

Before 1845, there was no land communication between Bandra and Mahim and people had to be ferried over the Mahim Creek. It was dangerous, and during the monsoons, countless people would lose their lives on dubious and unrealiable ferry services. Jamsetjee spent Rs. 1,55,800 in order to build the Mahim Causeway, that was justly named after his wife, Lady Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Not only did it save countless lives, but even today, it is a boon to all of us who live in the suburbs.

Yet, such is the wretched pettiness of our present day politicians that the Mahim Causeway was recently renamed after someone much less worthy. Shame, disgrace, how utterly pathetic of these politicians.

Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy had to his credit 126 notable public charities, including the Sir J. J. School of Arts, the Sir J. J. School of Architecture, the Sir J. J. School of Commercial Art. As his fame spread, the residents of Poona approached him to build a bund in order to contain the raging waters of the Mulla and Mutha rivers, and the kind man obliged. He built wells and tanks all over Bombay, hospitals and schools in Surat and Navsari, Agiaries in Bombay and Poona. His charity was not just confined to human beings. He contributed Rs. 80,000 to a Panrapole for animals, distributed money for the feeding of stray dogs, built water places for cattle and horses.

For all his good work, he became the first Indian upon whom Knighthood was conferred. His son, Rustomjee, was the second Indian to receive this honour.

In her birthday honours list of May 24, 1857, Queen Victoria conferred baronetcy on the first Indian knight, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy who was 74-years-old at that time.

He died two years later, and never before and never after Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy has Bombay had a son with such a large heart. His charities alone are estimated at over Rs. 100 crore, God bless his soul.

The reason we are telling his story in such detail is that, perhaps, it just might inspire some other young man or young woman (why not a woman?), who could emulate the example of this poor orphan who made a fortune and disbursed it amongst his fellow citizens.

Yes, Bombay, in the next milleneum, needs another Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.

(the above originally appeared in 'The Afternoon Despatch and Courier')