Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.48

c22.48

*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