Ananda Coomeraswamy, 1877–1948

Extract

The name Ananda Coomeraswamy conjures for me folk-weave ties, strange theories of social credit, and Ruskin-Morris sympathies. Before now he has been labelled a crank—and I think that there is some truth in the charge. By the same coin, Eric Gill has also been called a crank. Yet, now that their work can be seen in retrospect, a fair degree of modification is necessary.

There is a type of Englishman or American, as there is a type of Indian, who while remaining loyal patriots find that both patriotism is not enough and that their countries can only be best served (or saved) by the most vigilant eye of criticism. Both Gill and Coomeraswamy, who equally admired each other, were opposed to many of the trends which they saw in England America and India. They disapproved of the growing power of technology and yet it was largely because of technology (as it had come to affect printing) that their opposition to it could be disseminated and published so widely. That is the paradox.

Coomeraswamy’s father was the first Hindu to be called to the bar in London; his wife was an Englishwoman. When her husband died she left Colombo in 1879, taking with her a young boy of two. It was not until twenty-five years later that her son returned to his native land.