Monotype Indian Borders

The Monotype Corporation archives contain several shelves of leather-bound ledgers which record the sale of every machine produced by the company almost since its inception in the late nineteenth century.

Composition casters, Supercasters, die-cases and matrices are all painstakingly delineated in these weighty tomes. A separate file exists for every sales territory and the Indian sub-continent examples are particularly rewarding for modern researchers. Once held in the Type Archive collections, the Monotype Sales Ledgers are now at the National Collections Centre at Wroughton, near Swindon.

Such was the importance of the Indian market to Monotype that a number of non-Latin typefaces were designed for Indian printers – and an attractive set of decorative borders, although many western printers had little understanding of their cultural significance. Although intended for Asian markets, the Indian borders appeared in Monotype specimen books distributed to other countries and the matrices were widely available.

Monotype machines could be specially engineered to cast lines of type in reverse, a function which was essential in the production of types for languages which print right-to-left, rather than the traditional western left-to-right orthography.

Six designs were cut in Indian Border Series B1284 to B1289. They were inspired by motifs including the Diwali Lamp (B1284), traditionally used by Hindus to decorate their homes during the Festival of Light. These lamps were simple, earthenware vessels, filled with mustard oil and a cotton wick. Even in the twenty-first century they continue to be used as a traditional Diwali decoration.

The Indian Eye (B1285) is another motif often depicted in Indian art. The slant and the slit are exaggerated in Indian paintings and sculpture and examples may be seen in the caves of Ajanta in Hyderabad.

Monotype’s third design in the series (B1286) is the Indian Mat, a circular design which mimics traditional designs drawn on a clay floor with “chunam” or lime powder used by Indian housewives to make a welcoming pattern on the front doorstep. Circles and triangles are often a part of these very traditional designs.

Design B1287 is the Diamond Motif, often seen in the design of sari borders, jackets, skirts, carpets and mats.

The Asoka Wheel – the central element of the Indian flag – forms design B1288. Asoka was a Hindu king who ruled in 273 BCE. Among his personal symbols were the Asoka Wheel which has 24 spokes, and the Asoka Lions.

Water pots (B1289) are the inspiration for the sixth and final border element. It was once the most important item in the village hut in India. It appears in painting of village life and also used as a decorative element in its own right.

Attractive promotional materials were printed by Monotype at their works in Salfords, Surrey, to sell the Indian Borders to potential buyers. Several examples are held here at St Bride Library and we would be happy to show these to visitors who have an interest in this material. The library is open each Wednesday by appointment.

Monotype Indian Borders appear in western printing, in many cases with no real understanding of their cultural significance or origins. To many printers they are simply decorative elements. Combinable in endless ways, they can still be used to create attractive endpapers, cover papers and decorative frames.