Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.91

c22.91

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.