Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.65

c22.65

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.