Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22: Chapter XI. Metal Work: Iron, Brass, Copper and Bronze; Gold and Silver; Jewellery
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22
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Chapter XI. Metal Work: Iron, Brass, Copper and Bronze; Gold and Silver; Jewellery
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*The smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work.*—ECCLESIASTICUS.
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A KNOWLEDGE of iron is of great antiquity in India; the metals gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, and tin were known in the Vedic period, and are mentioned in the Vedic literature. Megasthenes at a later period noted the occurrence of these metals, and states that they were "employed in making articles of use and ornament, as well as the implements and accoutrements of war." There is abundant evidence that the ancient Hindus were skilled in manufacturing and working iron and in making and tempering steel. "Indian steel has been celebrated from the remotest antiquity, and the blades of Damascus, which maintained their pre-eminence even after the blades of Toledo became celebrated, were in fact of Indian iron. . . . The ondanique of Marco Polo's travels refers originally, as Colonel Yule has shown, to Indian steel, the word being a corruption of the Persian *Hundwaniy*, i.e., Indian steel. The same word found its way into Spanish, in the shapes of *alhinde* and *alfinde*, first with the meaning of steel, and then of a steel mirror, and finally of the metal foil of a glass mirror. The ondanique of Kirman, which Marco Polo mentions, was so called from its comparative excellence, and the swords of Kirman were eagerly sought after, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, by the Turks, who gave great prices for them. . . . Arrian mentions Indian steel, as imported into the Abyssinian ports; and Salmasins mentions that among the surviving Greek treatises was one 'on the tempering of Indian steel.'"*
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Of monuments remaining in India, the most famous is Chandragupta's wrought-iron pillar near Delhi, which weighs ten tons and is about fifteen hundred years old. Of this pillar, Ferguson† wrote that "it opens our eye to an unsuspected state of affairs to find the Hindus at that age capable of forging a bar of iron larger than any that have been forged even in Europe up to a very late date, and not frequently even now. . . . It is almost equally startling to find that after an exposure to wind and rain for fourteen centuries, it is unrusted, and the capital and inscription are as clear and as sharp now as when put up fourteen centuries ago." There are other monuments, such as the huge iron girders at Puri; the ornamental gates of Somnalli; and the 24 ft. wrought-iron gun at Nurvar, that bear witness to the metallurgical skill of the Hindus.
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Iron and steel are still made in India, but the industry is dying out. In 1880 the Duirdusti mines on the Godāvari were still worked; the iron sand being "melted with charcoal, without any flux, and is obtained at once in a perfectly tough and malleable state, superior to any English iron, or even the best Swedish. . . . Excellent steel is also still fused for gun barrels and sword blades." A more detailed account of iron and steel manufacture in India in still more recent times is given by V. S. Sambasiva Iyer in a lecture on "Iron Smelting in Mysore," published in Madras in 1902. Mr. Iyer thinks it possible that with improved methods it may be possible to continue and revive the industry in Mysore, where there is still some market for the local iron and steel, though these cost rather more than imported materials. Even in Ceylon there is a decided preference for the local product, *Metal work* while for making steel, the country-made iron is said to be altogether superior, probably on account of its freedom from phosphorus.
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∗ *Sir George Birdwood, 'Industrial Arts of India.'* † *'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture.'*
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*Iron* Seeing that a knowledge of iron is so ancient and widespread in India, it is not surprising *smelting* to find it also in Ceylon, which is, strictly speaking, no more than a part of India. The oldest specimens of iron in Ceylon are probably those found by Mr. Parker at Tissa-mahārāma.* Heaps of slag which are found in every district show how widespread an industry this smelting of iron has been. At present the industry survives only near Balangoda, where a certain amount of iron is made as a service rent, and where there still live two very old men who understand the method of conversion to steel. With these two men the latter craft will become a thing entirely of the past. One can hardly help regretting the decay of so ancient and interesting a craft; nor is the change quite unmixed gain, for comparatively little of the European iron is of the fine quality of Indian. But with Mr. Vredenburg,† “I doubt whether the iron industry can ever be revived in India by smelting according to the native methods. . . . To try to smelt iron on a small scale at the present day is probably equivalent, from an economic point of view, to attempting to prepare galvanized or corrugated iron, or lead pipes, or soda water bottles on a small scale or by manual labour.” The steel industry in Ceylon is already dead, for steel has never been made of late years in the ordinary way of trade, and the old men who make it cannot live many years more; a few families, however, are still partially occupied in iron smelting, and though it is likely that even by them it will be abandoned sooner or later, I see no reason why the smelters should be discouraged or laid under any unnecessary disability in connection with obtaining wood for charcoal, or otherwise.
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† *Rec. Geol. Surv. India, Vol. XXXIII., p. 313.*
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The methods‡ of the few remaining smelters are unchanged. Iron is still smelted at Hatarabāge, near Balangoda, by men of low caste (*yamannu*). The photographs reproduced on Pl. LIII., Figs. 1-3, show the workshop of an old man named Kiri Ukkuva, and his sons. The furnace is beneath the thatched roof of a shed open on all sides; it is quite close to the house occupied by the smelter and his family; for it is generally more convenient to collect and bring the ore to the furnace, than to establish the furnace near the ore. But smelters used also to erect the furnace near the ore, as in the case of those who used to visit Nuvara Eliya to work the iron ores there found. The ore is generally the nodular hematite or limonite which arises as a decomposition product of the country rocks, and is widely distributed in small quantities. Before smelting, the ore is broken into small pieces, and roasted to drive off water. In some districts it appears that the ore used has been magnetite. The analysis§ of a typical hematite is as follows:
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‡ Further accounts see Robert Knox, ‘Historical Relation of Ceylon’; W. C. Ondaatje, Government Calender, 1884; Sir S. Baker, ‘Eight Years in Ceylon’; Davy, ‘Travels in Ceylon’; Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon, Reports for 1903, 1904, etc.
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§ Analysis made at the Imperial Institute.
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| | | Per cent. | | | | Per cent. |
| SiO₂ | ... | 9·14 | S | ... | ... | Nil |
| Al₂O₃ | ... | 9·85 | P₂O₅ | ... | ... | ·05 |
| Fe₂O₃ | ... | 72·30 | P | ... | ... | ·022 |
| FeO | ... | ·22 | | | | |
| H₂O | ... | 8·40 | | | | 99·96 |
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∗ *Journal G.B.R.A.S., Vol. VIII., No. 27, 1884, p. 153 (61).*
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Fig. 98. Plan of iron furnaces at Hatarabāge, Balangoda; ¼ inch = 1 foot. AA, wattle and daub wall between furnace and bellows. B, bellows in use; B', bellows uncovered. C, sticks acting as springs to raise cover of bellows. D, stakes supporting strap for blower. E, well of furnace. F, bank of sand closing opening. GG, flat surface, about 2 feet 9 inches above the ground, at level of III in Fig. 99. KLMN, line of section of Fig. 99.
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The essential parts of the furnace are the well or furnace proper; a wall of wattle and daub protecting the bellows blower from the heat of the fire; and the bellows behind this wall. The well has two openings, one in front, from which the slag runs out, and through which the bloom of iron is ultimately extracted; and a smaller opening behind, through which a blast of air from the bellows is forced into the well. The bottom of the furnace is covered with sand, which also fills up the front opening. A charcoal fire is started at the bottom of the well and covered with layers of ore and charcoal until the well is filled, a continuous blast of air from the bellows keeping up the fire meanwhile. Additional ore and charcoal are added as the work proceeds, the stoking with charcoal, together with the occasional letting out of slag, being sufficient occupation for one man. The bellows, from which a continuous blast is kept for three hours or more, are worked by two other men, who share the work by turns; they are of a primitive but ingenious type. Behind the furnace are embedded vertically in the ground two logs of wood, about 17 inches in diameter, and hollowed out above to a depth of three or four inches; over each of these a piece of deer skin is tied, having a small hole near its centre, and at the centre a piece of cord attached, which latter is fastened six or seven feet above to a springy stick, the lower end of which is embedded in the ground. From each of these two sections of the bellows a small pipe conducts the blast into the hole leading to the well of the furnace. The bellows blower stands with his feet, one on each of the deer skins, facing the wall and lifting and putting down his feet in turn, drives a continuous blast of air into the furnace; for as he puts down his foot to press out the air from one skin, he covers the hole in it with the sole of his foot; and meanwhile the other skin is filled with air through the hole, which is uncovered when he lifts his foot, the skin being pulled up by the tension of the bent stick upon the string. On either side of the blower is a stake which he grips hold of, and which a strap is fastened that passes round behind him and supports his back.
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After three hours or more, when the iron is found to be ready, the sand is cleared away and the bloom pushed out through the opening, and then follows the process of “cutting the iron.”
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The bloom of iron is taken up in long tongs made of greenwood sticks tied together near one end, and it is then beaten a little into shape with thick sticks; then while it is held down on a log with two of the wooden tongs a third man takes a keṭṭa and cuts the lump
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Metal work Iron smelting *Metal work* of iron nearly half through; the gash so made is widened by the insertion of a green log, which is beaten in so as to force the edges further apart; this is done that the quality of the iron may be examined, for the outside is spongy, and the whole texture far from homogeneous. The bloom is then thrown into water and afterwards taken out and left to finish cooling. *Iron* *smelting* The bloom thus made is soft and malleable, and weighs about 6 lb.; it is sold to the blacksmiths for 50 cents. It is of interest to note that there was evidently associated with the iron smelters' furnace, as with all agricultural and craft operations, some idea of ceremonial purity and of religion. I have not been able to obtain any songs relating to the subject, but it is noted by Lawrie (Gazetteer, p. 686) that in 1811 when some villagers had gone, as they often did, to Nuvara Eliya to smelt iron, that one of their companions fell sick, whereupon he was at once carried away, lest by death he should defile the furnaces. Some hint of a survival of primitive religious ideas is also found in the two cobras which may be seen moulded on the wattle-and-daub wall of the steel furnace, Pl. LIII., 5 and 6.
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Fig. 99. Section of iron furnace shown in plan in Fig. 98; ¼ inch = 1 foot. The well is filled with ore and charcoal. Lettering as in Fig. 98.
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*Steel* *manufacture* The manufacture of steel, even as a service rent is quite extinct; but two very old men at Alutnuvara still keep up the tradition, and are able to demonstrate the process when required; with these men a knowledge of the process will be gone, so that a record of their methods is of much value. The steel makers are smiths (*navandannō*), thus of much higher caste than the *yamannu* from whom they buy the iron required. The process of steel making is more delicate than that above described. The furnace (Pl. LIII., 5 and 6, and Fig. 100) is smaller, and at the ground level, instead of being raised three feet above the ground; it is a semi-circular hearth filled with charcoal, into which air is conducted from the bellows, which are identical with those of the iron furnace. The hearth is defined by a low clay wall, rising about six inches above the ground. The steel is made in clay crucibles, each about eight inches long, two inches in diameter, and a quarter of an inch in thickness. Into the crucible is put a piece of iron, with some chips of *ranavarā* (*Cassia auriculata*); in the proportion of 12½ oz. iron to 5 oz. wood,* in the case examined. The crucible is covered with a lid, having small holes pierced for the escape of gas; six crucibles thus prepared are embedded in the charcoal, and a fire started. Very soon the gases burn off, and while this goes on the blowing is stopped. Then the blast is kept up continuously, while the tubes are turned about and more charcoal added, the great object being to keep up a constant and even distribution of heat. When the steel is likely to be ready, a hole is opened in the front part of the hearth, so that the blast goes right through the furnace, and the tubes are lifted up one by one in long iron tongs and shaken to see if the steel is quite liquid. Any which are not quite ready are returned to the furnace for a time. The others are laid down to cool and subsequently broken open and the bar *Metal work* of steel removed. The steel is highly crystalline, and is used for the best cutting tools. The bars, which weigh from 12 to 15 oz., are worth from 75 cents to a rupee each. A specimen of the steel has been analyzed at the Imperial Institute, with the following results:—
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∗ *Ondaatje (loc. cit.) gives seven parts of iron to three of dried wood as the proportion producing the best steel. He states also that the wood of kuḍu-miris (Toddalia aculeata) is also used, and the proportions are then three of iron to one of wood, or better, five of iron to one of wood; but the steel so made is of inferior quality.
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Fig. 100. Plan of steel furnace, Alutnuvara, Balaṅgoḍa: ½ inch = 1 foot. Lettering as before.
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| | Per cent. | | Per cent. |
| Iron ... | 99·77 | Sulphur ... | 0·07 |
| Manganese ... | 0·07 | Phosphorus ... | 0·02 |
| Silicon ... | 0·07 | Carbon (combined) ... | 1·97 |
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The steel is thus very free from sulphur and phosphorus and very rich in carbon. It is *Steel* stated to resemble somewhat the older forms of Sheffield tool steel, which, however, seldom contained more than 1·5 per cent of carbon. The high percentage of carbon is characteristic and interesting, for it has been pointed out by Ritter Cecil von Schwarz* that "it is well known by every manufacturer of crucible cast steel how difficult it is sometimes to get the exact degree of hardness to suit certain purposes, especially with reference to steel for cutting blades, &c. With the ordinary process endeavours are made to reach the required degree of hardness by selecting such raw materials as on an average have the required contents of carbon in order to correspond with the required hardness as far as possible. The natives [of India] reached this degree by introducing into their cast steel an excess of carbon, by taking this excess gradually away afterwards, by means of the slow tempering process, having it thus completely in their power to attain the exact degree by interrupting this decarbonising process exactly at the proper time in order to cast steel of a quality exactly suitable for the purpose."
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The work of the blacksmith falls to be considered next. The general duties of a smith *Smiths'* are enumerated above, on p. 25. We have seen that he purchases iron from the smelter. *services* This rough bloom he prepares for use by repeated heating and hammering; or makes steel from it in the manner already described. But the chief part of his work is the manufacture of tools and implements. We have seen that for each royal manor, a smith was appointed whose duty it was to make the tools required by the tenants; and certain fees and perquisites were due to the smith for this work, viz. a certain rate of corn in harvest time, according to ancient custom, and extra presents in the case of special work. These smiths were ‘protected,’ for the tenants of each manor were compelled to go to their own smith, and none else; and any smith working out of his own district was liable to pay damages to the smith whose rights were thus infringed.
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Beside the smiths of the royal manors, who should probably be included under the *Koṭṭal-badda* group of state craftsmen (p. 55, above), there were the king’s craftsmen working in the Four Workshops; and the smiths who were tenants on private manors, or tenants of religious foundations. The last named owed service rent to the proprietors, of which services examples may be quoted. Thus, at Nāyakumbura, Mātale North, tenants held lands from the Dambulla Vihāra; the services, commutable for the considerable sum of Rs. 54·20, were to supply the vihāra with nails and keys at the Nānumura Maṅgalya; to give one *vahun-keṭṭa* and five *hiramana* (kitchen knives and rasps), iron being supplied; to give thirty days’ work in iron; to appear before the incumbent at the Old and New Year and eat each time, to give him six arecanut slicers and chisels or some such small articles, and the same to the Vidāne; to give fourpence as *sīvurumila*; to contribute one day’s share to the *dan-kada* in common with the other *paṅgu* of the village (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, p. 638).
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∗ Quoted by P. C. Ray, ‘History of Hindu Chemistry,’ ed. 1905, p. 55.
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*Smiths’ services*
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At Paldeniya, Matale North, Dulleve Adigar owned a blacksmiths’ *panguva*, of one acre two poles and two *amunu* garden, the service for which, commutable at Rs. 15, were twice a year to give a *penuma*, each time an arecanut-slicer or a good knife; yearly to pay two *ridis* as *ganpandura*; to accompany the proprietor on important occasions not more than twice a year, and carry the *mura-avudha*; to work as a blacksmith for thirty days a year, the proprietor supplying the iron.
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The blacksmith tenants of a *navan-panguva* of 1½ acres at Alatuvagoda had to give yearly a billhook, a coconut scraper, an arecanut-slicer and a pair of scissors to the *devale*; to repair the locks and keys when required, and to nail laths; to appear before the Basnayaka Nilame with two arecanut slicers to the *kankanama* (overseer) and to the *vidane* (headman). These services were commutable for Rs. 19.40 (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, pp. 14, 15).
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The blacksmith’s forge is somewhat similar to the smelter’s hearth, having a wattle and daub wall between the hearth and the bellows. The latter may be of several kinds, either like the English form, or the iron-smelter’s bellows already described, and consisting of two bullock-hide bags, with a bamboo nozzle, and at the other end a wide slit with wooden lips; air is admitted through these lips, which are then closed and the bellows compressed; the blower sits between the two bellows and works each in turn so as to keep up a continuous blast. The blacksmith’s tools consist of hammers, tongs and pincers, files, punches, etc., beside the *gal-torapanaya* (Fig. 91), or instrument for boring holes, shown in use on Pl. V., 6.
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*Agricul-tural imple-ments*
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I.
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II.
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III.
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The chief work of ordinary smiths consisted in making agricultural implements—mamoties (*udalu*), billhooks (*keti*), sickles (*de-keti*); and knives (*pihiya*), arecanut-slicers (*gira*), and betel pounders. Their other work consisted in making tools for carpenters, ivory-workers, etc.; palanquin fittings, surgical instruments, elephant goads (*ankus, hendu*), writing styles, (*ulkat, panhit*), locks, keys, key-plates, hinges, bolts, handles and handle roses, swords, guns, spears, arrow heads.
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Some of these may be referred to in greater detail. The sickles (Pl. XLV., 14) are provided with a sharply serrated edge, and the blade ends in a fine point, easily inserted between the stalks of the grain. Punched ornament is commonly applied (Fig. 101). In rarer cases the sickle may be damascened and have an ivory handle. A special smaller form is used for reaping *kurakkan* (Pl. XLV., 13). Somewhat similar in appearance are *pan-keti*, grass mat-weavers’ knives, of which one end is adapted for cutting, the other is lance shaped, for purposes of insertion between the strands of plaited grass (Pl. XLV., 11, 12). Knives are, of all Kandyan ‘curiosities,’ perhaps the best known to collectors. The simplest are of plain steel, but very graceful form, with wooden or horn handles, and carried in the belt by every villager, to lop off inconvenient branches as he passes through the jungle, to open coconuts, or cut jungle ropes. From these knives there are all transitions to the most elaborate and costly of silver or gold inlaid and overlaid knives worn by the greatest chiefs as a part of the costume, and never intended for use. The workmanship of many of these is most exquisite, the mounting and sheaths being equally beautiful (Pl. XLVII., 1-8); but this fine work is done rather by the higher craftsmen, the silversmiths and ivory carvers, than by the mere blacksmith. Many of the best knives were doubtless made in the Four Workshops, the blades being supplied to the silversmith by the blacksmiths. Folding knives are rarely seen (Pl. XLVII., 9, and XL., 18).
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Fig. 102. Details of ornament from damascened knives.
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The blacksmiths' almost invariable *penuma* to the proprietor consists of a *giraya* or arecanut slicer. The nature of these most indispensable of personal possessions will be understood from the illustrations on Pl. XLVI., 1-9; these represent a few of the more elaborately ornamented forms, but the variety and number is so great as to make it impossible to do this adequately. The *killōtaya* or lime box is but rarely made of iron or steel, but generally of copper, brass, or one of the precious metals. Betel pounders (*bulat-vaṅgeḍi*) are small iron mortars with a brass-mounted pestle working through a screw lid, used by old and toothless persons for grinding up the ingredients of a chew (betel leaf, lime and spices). Elephant goads are often elaborate and beautiful, and even if of plain iron are well shaped and graceful. They are said to be formed after the model of the claw of the *et-kanda-lihiniya*, the great elephant-devouring roc (Fig. 16). They are mounted on lacquered sticks and used as indicated in Pl. I., by the rider and the keeper of the elephant; the name *aṅkusa* is applied to the rider's goad, *heṇḍuva* to the keeper's.
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Palanquin fittings are of damascened iron, often beautiful and elaborate; good examples may be seen at the Kandy Mahā Dēvāle and the Viṣṇu Dēvāle, Hanguraṅketa. Generally of plain iron are the two *konṭeru* or iron palanquin-rests, which are mounted on lacquered staffs carried by the bearers, to support the pole of the palanquin whilst resting.
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Surgical instruments appear to have been made. Sinhalese medicine is stronger on the side of drugs and applications than in practical surgery; at any rate not much is known of medical instruments in use, but Mr. Bell states that the Gẹṭaberiya family of Gopala Moors are in possession of ‘some implements of surgery made of iron, steel and brass, for excising wounds, cauterization, etc.’ (Kẹgalla Report, p. 100). The Gopala Moors referred to were hereditary medical practitioners, much favoured by the Kandyan kings.
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Of writing styles, referred to above on p. 49, the majority are of steel, and all have at least a steel point and cutting edge. The common form is that of the gold style of Fig. 129, but variously ornamented styles are also found. The essential point is that the style should be long and heavy enough, and well balanced, so as to form the rounded letters well. The leaf to be written upon is held in the left hand, and the point of the style is set in a notch in the left thumb nail, while it is moved with the other hand.
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Fig. 103. Narissa yatura, ‘bar-lock,’ Degal-doruva Vihāra: from copy of the original made for the author by a Kandyan blacksmith. × about 1/3.
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Iron or steel locks, handles and door bolts are amongst the best types of Kandyan smithying. Locks are almost always of one form, the *narissa yatura*, or bar lock. The form of these locks will be understood from Fig. 103. It will be seen that in this instance the bar is square in section, and
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*Metal work* *Knives*
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*Arecanut slicers*
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*Surgical instruments*
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*Writing styles*
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*Locks and bolts* the hasp hinged; more often the bar is round in section, and with the hasp moves in one piece on its own axis. Plate XLIIIA, 7, however, shows another lock-bar, which is also flat and provided with a hinged hasp, not seen in the picture. The great variety and excellence of the workmanship of these locks, which are best seen on the doors of old vihāras, makes them a source of perpetual interest; one regrets the more that all demand for such work is now extinct, and if locks are used, they are either of European manufacture, or so poor design (as at Kẹgalla Ambalam) as to be contemptible. The bar locks have large and beautiful keys, brass and silver mounted (Pl. XLIIIA, 5, and
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Fig. 104. Iron key-plate, Danagirigala Vihāra. × ⅔.
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Fig. 105. Iron key-plate, × ½. Malvatte Pansala.
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XLIV., 8). Noteworthy also are the key-plates, often of brass, as in Pl. XLIIIA, 5, but also of iron or steel. Fig. 104 shows a fine example from Danagirigala Vihāra, having the form of a bhēruṇḍa-pakshaya. In many cases the key-plates are much plainer, but still of very elegant outline; a large series is shown in Fig. 107, including some of iron and some of brass. Another iron key-plate is shown in Fig. 105, having the form of a bō-leaf.
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A form of lock much more rarely met with is the ambarana yatura or ratchet lock; here the bar is moved by a toothed turnkey, and the form of the key-hole is correspondingly modified (Fig. 106).
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Bolts, as we have seen, are in most cases of wood. Iron bolts are less often seen. Fig. 108 represents such a bolt from a window in the pohoya-gē at Malvatte Pansala. The bolt is in the form Fig. 107. Iron key-plates. × ½. II. Horagone Dēvāle; III., VI. Malvatte Pansala; IV., V. Asgiriya (?); VIII. Gaḍalādeṇiya. I. (Mahāvalaṭenna) and (?) VI. are brass.
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Fig. 106. Key-plate of ambarana yatura, Riḍi Vihāra, × ½.
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I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.
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Bolts
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Fig. 108. Iron window-bolt in the form of a bird, Malvatte Pansala, × 1/2.
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of a bird, the beak engaging with a staple, and the flattened tail used as a lever to turn the whole bolt about the nail that fastens it. A great variety of ingenious bolts are found inside the brass tobacco boxes (heppu) in common use. They are of brass or iron, or both combined, manipulated by turning bosses or rivets on the outside of the box; the box is ‘locked’ by turning
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Fig. 109. Catch of a brass box, seen from within. Copper, brass, and iron. × 1/3.
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the two annular holdfasts with which the bar can engage only when in the correct position. An example of such a catch is shown in Fig. 109.
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Hinges
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Hinges are not often met with, as in most cases the old-fashioned massive doors turn on wooden tenons. But massive iron hinges are to be seen at the Daḷadā Māligāva, and hinges are sometimes found in other buildings. Fig. 110, I, shows the hinge of a window leaf from the Girihāgama Valavva in Kandy; the same figure, II., shows a hinge from Doḍantale Vihāra, and III., a hasp from the same place. The iron rivets used to fasten hinges are sometimes
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Fig. 110. Iron hinges and hasp. I., from Girihāgama Valavva, Kandy; II. and III. from Doḍantale Vihāra. × 1/3.
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Fig. 111. Iron rivets.
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of good form; a few are illustrated in Fig. 111. It will be seen that all the hinges are distinctly Kandyan in details, but it is, nevertheless, uncertain if the hinge can be regarded as strictly indigenous, and not of European origin. Tamil and Sinhalese ironwork show undoubted European influence. This is more clearly seen in the low-country, and especially at Jaffna, than in Kandyan work. Fig. 117 shows a brass hinge from an old Dutch house at Jaffna; Fig. 115 a detached brass hinge, also obtained in Jaffna; and Fig. 113 an iron hinge from a Dutch almirah in Jaffna, evidently of local manufacture, but unmistakably deriving from European forms. These may serve to illustrate the strong European influence evident in such types of ironwork. The same thing will be seen quite as clearly in the brass key-plates described and illustrated below. Semi-European iron and brass fittings are characteristic of the ‘Indo-Portuguese’ chests or presses, which are most abundant in Jaffna and the low-country, but are found also in vihāra and devāle storerooms. These fittings include the hinges, locks, key-plates, handles and bossed rivets. Pl. XLIIIA,3, shows a small example of such a box with brass fittings.
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Handles and handle roses of plain or damascened iron or steel are like the bar locks, necessary parts of the furniture of a vihāra door. Such handles consist of three parts, the ring, the staple, and the handle-rose. The rose is almost always domed. In most cases the whole is elaborately damascened. Pl. IV., 3, shows a blacksmith at work damascening a handle-rose with silver wire.
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Fig. 112. Iron handle of large press, pohoya-ge, Malvatte Pansala.
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Fig. 114. Part of a handle rose, Bisōvela Vihāra, Kēgalla Dist. A, brass overlay in form of bō-leaf; B, silver wire inlay.
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A. B. Fig. 115. Details of damascening. A. Brass on steel. B. Silver and brass on steel.
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Fig. 113. Metal hinge of almirah, Jaffna. Adapted European form. × 1/2.
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Fig. 116. Brass hinge, from old house at Jaffna. European form. × 1/3.
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Fig. 117. Brass hinge, Jaffna. European form. × 1/4.
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A digression is made here to explain the nature of the damascening. This takes in Ceylon three forms; the simplest is that known in Northern India as *koftgari*, where the surface of the iron is roughened by fine crossed scratching, and the silver wire pressed into these, engaging firmly with the rough surface. This method is only employed in inferior work, and is not very often met with. The two other forms, which are generally combined in the same piece of work, are those of inlay and overlay. In the case of inlay, a very narrow groove is cut in the steel, and the silver or brass wire laid in this; the surface is then hammered, causing the two sides of the groove to grip the silver wire very tightly; and when the surface is smoothed and filed, the design shows up brightly in clear outline. In the case of overlay, the surface to be covered is first slightly excavated, and round its circumference a groove is undercut in the matrix; then the brass or silver plate is fitted into the groove, and the overhanging edge of it beaten down so as to hold the overlaid plate quite firmly. In most cases the surface of the matrix is carved before the overlay is applied, and then the design appears in relief through the overlay, the silver or brass being beaten down on to the carved matrix until closely moulded to its surface. The overlaid metal may also be chased after its application to the matrix. These various ways of damascening are known as *riḍi-keṭayan-veḍa*. The work is for the most part done by blacksmiths; but the finer knives and boxes are made by silversmiths.
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Kandyan blacksmiths frequently make use of a method of colouring their wrought iron work, the effect of which is to darken the surface and make it look like European ‘blued’ steel; the process is adapted to show up damascened work well against the dark surface, and also to check rusting. The process is by way of being a trade secret. The recipe is as follows:—Take three parts of *sīnakkaram* (alum), one part of *pal-mānikkan* (copperas), two parts of the leaves of (*hin-*) *embul-embiliya* (*Oxalis corniculata*, L.) and grind together and allow to stand three days; add the juice of one lime, and spread over the iron to be coloured; place carefully in the fire till the right colour is attained. The process is called *yakaḍa paṭa gānava* or *yakaḍa kalu karaṇava* (to colour or blacken iron).
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Apparently the oxalic or other organic acid in the preparation reduces any higher oxide of iron to the ferrous state, and when applied to the steel and heated, slight etching takes place and a probable reduction of part of the sulphate to sulphide of iron. The temperature employed would affect the amount of reduction and oxidation. The blue colour is probably due to an uneven distribution of oxide and sulphide of iron.
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Brass wares fall into two groups, the wrought and the cast. In a general way, the hammered and chased work is done by silversmiths, the cast work by the *lokaruvō* or founders, who belong to the lower group of the craftsmen. The wrought work includes, as has already been partly indicated, hinges, key-plates, boxes, trays, lanterns, lime-boxes, arecanut slicers, and mountings of all kinds, as well as some of the cheaper kinds of jewellery. Brass hinges are characteristic and beautiful; they show, however, as above suggested, traces of European influence. Fig. 122 shows several hinges and a catch, from various *vevel-peṭṭi* or cane baskets, and Pl. XLIIIA, 8, shows one of these baskets with the hinge and handle *in situ*. Another brass hinge appears on the wooden *abharaṇa-peṭṭiya*, Pl. XIII., 3. Brass key-plates (*muna-tahaḍu*) are common; many show in their design strong European influence, others are partly or wholly of Sinhalese design. The appearance of these key-plates will be better understood from the accompanying figures (Figs. 118, 119, 120, 121) than from any description. They are generally both pierced and chased. The pierced key-plates are sometimes mounted over red cloth to show up the pattern the better. Brass boxes are found in great variety, and here again there is strong evidence of European influence. The flat oval Dutch tobacco boxes (heppu) are still quite commonly distributed in the Kandyan provinces; and still more common are the locally made betel boxes of the same form but engraved with purely Sinhalese designs. Examples of these have been given in Figs. 11, 28, and 68; another is here illustrated in Fig. 123.
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Fig. 118. Brass key-plate, from large press in pohoya-ge, Malvatte Pansala. × ½. Slightly restored.
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Fig. 119. Brass key-plate with hamsa paṭṭuva, Malvatte Pansala. × 1.
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Fig. 120. Brass key-plate, Malvatte Pansala. Original mounted over red cloth. × ⅔.
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Fig. 121. Brass key-plate, Maḍuvanvela, Sab. × ⅔.
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Fig. 122. Brass hinges, lock, and catches from cane baskets (vevel-peṭṭi).
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Fig. 123. Decoration of underside of brass heppuva, × 1.
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The large brass trays still made at the Kacceri under the auspices of the Kandy Art Association, are amongst the few purely Kandyan manufactures which continue to be made in considerable numbers and of good workmanship. They were used for offerings of flowers or food at temples, or for the presentation of gifts to king or chieftain, or for handing round betel leaves at an entertainment such as a wedding. The trays still made are a storehouse of Sinhalese design, remaining almost entirely traditional in treatment; but a Japanese motif, a large peacock with tail outspread is often introduced as a centre. The Kandyan brass work thus still made is of better quality than almost any Indian brass ware made for sale to tourists; that of Benāres is about the worst,—and the best patronised.
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English and American tourists in search of Indian ‘curios’ is, it may be remarked, as a rule almost devoid of taste and intelligence. In Ceylon this defect is made up for by the help of the Kandy Art Association, which guarantees good work and generally secures it, at any rate in brass, if not always in silver.
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Door handles in brass are illustrated on Pl. XLIII., 3 and 7, and Pl. XLIIIA, 6. Fig. 124 shows the smaller handle of a cupboard. The handles of all small boxes, heppu, etc., are also generally of brass, sometimes of silver (Pl. XLIIIA, 3 and 8).
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Dishes of brass, sometimes bronze and rarely silver, were used for eating rice, a leaf being laid on the dish, and the rice itself on the leaf. These dishes, or teṭi, for serving or taking rice are very common.
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Arecanut slicers (girā) are commonly made of brass, the cutting blade, of course, excepted. Pl. XLVI., 9, shows a very fine example, inlaid with silver wire; Nos. 4 and 8 are also of brass.
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Fig. 124. Brass handle, Mahāvalaṭenna.
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Brass casting is a craft as important or more so than that of wrought brass; but the lōkaruvō or founders belong to the lower division of the craftsmen. A brassfounder’s workshop is shown on Pl. V., 6. Three furnaces with crucibles are seen in the foreground, and some moulds on the left hand at the back. The method of casting is that known as cire perdue. In the case of solid articles such as images, a mould is first made in wax, then covered with fireproof clay prepared from white ants’ nests and other ingredients; the wax is then melted out through a hole in this covering of clay, and replaced by molten metal. In the case of hollow vessels, a solid model of the fireproof clay is first made, and a wooden rod being driven through the centre of the mass, it is turned smooth on a lathe. The model is then covered with wax, again turned smooth, and covered with clay. When dry, the wax is melted out through a hole in this outer layer, and replaced by metal. Objects so cast in brass are afterwards turned smooth, or carved or repoussed or damascened.
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Various vessels are cast in brass and bronze. Perhaps the commonest of these is the kotalaya, or water vessel found at every vihāra, where it contains the water used to sprinkle flowers laid upon the altar; these are open spouted vessels, and are also used for drinking from, the water being poured from the spout to the mouth, with the hand held below the lip to form a cup, thus avoiding contact of the vessel with the mouth; but the vessels so used are generally made of earthenware. A vessel much less often seen is the tel-kulava, with a narrow grooved spout; these are used to hold coconut oil for replenishing lighted lamps. Another kind of water vessel is the keṇḍiya, a spouted vessel with a lid; I have seen only three examples, one in copper, and two in silver, but there can be little doubt that they were also made in brass. A common form of brass water vessel in domestic use is the gurulettu or ‘goglet,’ usually with a hinged lid. These are large below, with a tall narrow neck. Another vessel not rarely seen is the wide-mouthed sembu, or lota, but these are generally importations from India or the north of Ceylon. The same applies to the great brass water vessels carried by women on the hips, which, however, are not often seen in Sinhalese districts, where earthen vessels are in general use. Many or most of the large brass lamps, and rivetted copper cauldrons, are rather the work of Indian craftsmen settled in the low-country, than of actual Kandyan smiths.
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A common piece of cast brass is the serak-kale; this is a low stand for a plate or leaf of rice, used at meal times, or sometimes to hold the ingredients and accessories of a betel chew. The typical bulat-taṭṭuva or betel tray, however, differs from the serak-kale in having a more or less basin shaped, instead of a nearly flat surface. The ornamentation of the serak-kale *Metal work* is often interesting, consisting of spirals and double spirals (Fig. 125), obtained by applying ‘worms’ of wax to the surface of the original mould; ‘cable,’ in imitation of twisted wire is similarly produced.
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*Bronze* Bronze is less commonly used than brass for casting; but some objects, such as elephant bells, cymbals, moulds for beating up brass, silver, or gold, tools used by repoussers are almost invariably of bronze. Pl. XLV., 7, shows a bronze camphor burner, perhaps of Indian origin. Bronze elephant bells are shown on Pl. XLIV., 3, and XLV., 8. An example of the kind of mould referred to is seen in the model of a shoe represented on Pl. XLV., 1. This was the mould for the gold Shoes of State (*miri veḍa saṅgala*) worn by Narēndra Simha; it is still in the possession of the Maṅgalagama *galaddo* who made the shoes. In recent times a model has been made in copper and placed in the Colombo Museum. Moulds for small boxes, such as that shown in Pl. XLIII., 5, are similarly used by gold and silversmiths, but such moulds are also made of wood.
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Fig. 125. Ornament of cast brass, produced by application of string wax to the surface of the wax mould.
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*Lamps* Lamps are made of brass, less often of bronze; there are two main types, the standing lamps and the hanging. Of the latter, the variety is very great. Perhaps the most interesting are those in the form of birds, shown on Pl. XLIV., 4, and Fig. 126. A common type is barrel-shaped; another kind has the form of an elephant. In almost all cases the mouth of the lamp is fashioned as a *śerapendiya* head; sometimes a small bird is perched above, as on the lamp shown in Pl. XLIV., 4. Fig. 5 on the same Plate shows a small standing lamp; like most of its kind this lamp is of Indian form, and, indeed, probably of Tamil manufacture. Similar lamps with five or more wicks are also made to hang.
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Fig. 126. Brass hanging lamp. Laṅkātilaka Vihāra. Length 9¼ inches.
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*Cressets* Generally made of bronze are the cressets (*at-pandam*). These have the form of hafted cups, for attachment to a lacquered wooden handle. The Daḷada Māligāva has one of silver with an ivory handle. Bronze cressets are illustrated on Pl. XLV., 2, 3, and 5, and in Fig. 127 representing a specially beautiful form, with lotus petal motif. These cressets are used at night, to burn oily tow and resin, the bowl being held low so as to light the ground. Less often seen are double or triple cressets with long handles for carrying erect in processions.
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Fig. 127. Bronze cresset, lotus form. Handle missing. Diameter of bowl, 4 inches.
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We find that some *dēvāles* had tenants whose duty it was to carry these cressets on *perahera* nights. At Vallahagoḍa, for example, a ‘*pandan-allana*’ tenant had, beside other duties, to ‘carry a *pandama* supplied by himself and steeped in oil supplied by the *dēvāle* for fifteen nights of the *perahera* at Vallahagoḍa.’ Dhoby tenants (washermen) had to supply the rag balls for burning with oil in the hand cressets. Thus at Palipāna, the tenant of a *rada paṅguva* belonging to the Palipāna Vihāra had to offer to the Diva Nilame and to the *kāriya-karaṇa-rala* (bailiff) of the Maligāva soon after the New Year a white Kandyan hat each, and to supply for the *perahera* fifty rag balls called *pandan-uṇḍi*; these services were commutable for Rs. 8·80 (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, p. 686).
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Copper is more sparingly used than brass; but in the case of lime boxes (*killota*) we find, perhaps, more examples in copper than in any other metal. The finest example is that shown on Pl. XLVI., 10. This very old specimen is of copper filigree set with cabochon glass over foil in lieu of garnets. The design and workmanship are bold and romantic, and the form unusual. Copper *killota* of the more usual form are shown on the same Plate in Figs. 11 and 12; it will be observed that inlay of silver wire on copper has a specially clear and good effect. On Pl. XLIIIA, 1, is shown a very handsome copper *keṇḍiya* or water vessel from the Ridī Vihāra. The neck and lid are set with cabochon garnets, and the neck, base and spout are beautifully chased with *liya pata* scrolls. Fig. 2 on the same Plate represents a horn powder flask mounted in silver-plated copper filigree.
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Clepsydras or water clocks (*pē-teṭi*) were of copper. These instruments were used only by the king and by the astrologers. “They have,” says Knox, “no Clocks, Hour-glasses, or Sun-Dials, but keep their time by guess. The King indeed hath a kind of Instrument to measure time. It is a Copper Dish holding about a Pint, with a very small hole in the bottom. This Dish they set a swimming in an Earthen Pot of water, the water leaking in at the bottom till the Dish be full, it sinks. And then they take it out, and set it empty on the water again, and that makes one *Pay*. Few or none use this but the King, who keeps a man on purpose to watch it continually. The people will use it upon some occasions, as if they are to sow their Corn at any particular hour, as being the good lucky Season, then they make use of the Copper Pan, to know the time exactly.” The *pēya*, or ‘*Pay*’ as Knox calls it, is an ‘hour’ of twenty-four minutes, thirty making a day; the *pē-teṭiya* usually measure one *pēya*, but there are others larger and smaller.
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The tragic story of Līlāvatī, the learned daughter of the great Indian astronomer, Bhāskarācārya, is called to mind by these water clocks. It had been foretold that Līlāvatī would lose her husband soon after marriage, unless the ceremony were performed at a certain auspicious moment. Her father prepared the wedding ceremonies accordingly, and set the water clock to sink at the auspicious moment and so give the signal for the ceremony to be performed. The child, however, in her play, found the dish, and leaning over the basin in which it was floating, a pearl fell from her necklace and blocked the hole by which water was filling the bowl; and it was not till long after the set time that the distracted father found that his precautions had been taken in vain; and it was after this that he determined that she, even if widowed, should at least be the great and learned woman she afterwards became.
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A remarkable alloy, used as a niello, and also in the manufacture of certain small articles such as nails used in superstitious ceremonies, is *pas-lo* or ‘five metals.’ It appears to have consisted of gold, silver, copper, lead and iron. The following couplet details its composition in the above sense: ‘*Pañca lohan hema raupyan, tāmrayah sīsakan matam.*’ It is said that *lokada* (bronze or bell-metal) is sometimes used instead of lead.
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Silver and gold articles, other than jewellery, are naturally rare. The country was not rich in specie, and it is said that even the revenue paid to the last king, who has the reputation of an extortioner, did not exceed 15,000 Rupees, the then equivalent of £1500. The finest examples of gold and silver plate remaining are to be found in temples, the king’s own property having been for the most part looted and removed in 1815. Pl. XLII. shows a number of silver and gold articles from Kandy temples. The silver lamp, the gold fan (*ran-vaṭaha-paṭa*) and betel stand (*dalamura taṭuva*) are of exceedingly fine design
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*Metal work*
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*Copper*
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*Water-clocks*
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*Līlāvatī*
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*Gold and silver plate* *Metal work* and workmanship. The silver *keṇḍiya* from the Mahā Dēvāle is also very beautiful, and noticeable for its simplicity and restraint. The little *pacca-kusalana* or sandal wood paste cup, gold mounted and set with rubies and sapphires, is said to have been dedicated by Rājādhi Rāja Simha, with the *jaya saka* and the *Algama sannasa*, after a victory over the Dutch at Gurubēbile; it was no doubt used at Royal inauguration ceremonies, when the sword of state was first girded on a new king. On such occasions, the sword having been girded on the prince by a member of the Pilima Talāva family, whose privilege this was, the Kapurāla “presented a pot of sandal-powder, in which the prince, who may now be called king, dipped his fingers and touched the sword; and this ceremony was performed in the Maha as well as in the Nāta Dēvāle” (Davy, ‘Travels in Ceylon,’ p. 168).
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*Kandyan* “The royal throne,” says Davy, “was of plated gold, ornamented with precious stones.” *throne* The throne thus referred to is now at Windsor Palace, where, by the kindness of Mr. Fortescue, I have had an opportunity of examining it. It is a large arm chair, covered with repoussé gold plate, set with gems, amongst which are a few turquoises, the only ones I have seen in Kandyan work. The other gems are mainly amethysts and crystal. The arms end in characteristic lions. The back has a sun-face in the centre, flanked by dēvas on lotus thrones. The detail of this work is very beautifully executed. The remainder of the gold plate is chased in somewhat florid style with designs of the pine-apple, sun-flower and acanthus foliage type, suggestive of European influence. On the top of the back are three cut crystal balls.
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*Palanquins* [Figure: ]
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Fig. 128. Brass palanquin fittings. Vishnu Dēvāle, Hanguranketa.
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*Begging* Palanquin fittings are of iron, brass, or silver. Fig. 128 shows details from the brass fittings of a palanquin at the Vishnu Dēvāle, Hanguranketa; Knox remarks of Royal palanquins (*ran-doli*) that they are “nothing so well made as in other parts of India. The ends of the Bambou it is carried by, are largely tipped with silver, and curiously wrought and engraven: for he hath very good workmen of that profession.” Ceremonial pingoes may also be silver tipped, as in the case of a beautiful example at the Embēkke Dēvāle (Pl. LII., 2).
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*bowls* Begging bowls were generally made of iron, rarely of precious metals. There is a gold bowl, if I remember rightly, at the Daladā Māligāva. A copper gilt *patra* is mentioned in a *sannasa* as having been given by Narēndra Simha to the Māniyangama Vihāra. The copper bowl has the royal sign manual, ŚRI, upon it (Bell, Kēgalla Report, p. 66).
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*Royal* The king took great delight in cunning workmanship. We may picture him going about *patronage* the Four Workshops and keenly criticising all that was going forward there, just as Akbar the Great and other Eastern rulers have ever been wont to do. This royal interest in art and craft must not be regarded as the mere amusement of an idle monarch; the proper comprehension of such matters belonged to ideal of kingly state. The destruction of the state patronage of craft which followed upon the British occupation, struck one of the many *Metal work* blows at the national culture, which have so impoverished the outlook of the Sinhalese people during the last hundred years, inflicting injury which it will take a great deal of ‘compulsory education’ to cure.
First 114 of 162 passages. Read on
Linked texts (6)
- Bṛhatsaṃhitā — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Ἰνδικά — Μεγασθένης, Ancient Greek
- Tissamahārāma
- Iron pillar of Delhi
- Somnath