Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.s1.35

c11.s1.35

BIRDS. Birds have always a great fascination for the craftsman, perhaps because the design and shapes of many common objects readily lend themselves to the suggestion of bird form. Brass or bronze hanging lamps have frequently the form of birds (Pl. XLIV., 4). A well-known example is the brass lamp at Laṅkātilaka, which has very often been copied for the Kandy Art Association. The various bird pendants, especially the Panabokka pendant (Pl. L., 8) are examples of the feeling for bird ornament; so also the bird-shaped handle of the plough (nimun-kurulla), and the bird-shaped block through which the taut rope of a loom is passed (Pl. XXIX., 1, centre of end of warp).