Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c23.13

c23.13

Sinhalese lac-work is characteristic by great brilliancy and gaiety of colouring. The objects decorated are usually small; and even when somewhat larger, as in the case of bed-legs, the small amount of furniture used at all, and the simplicity of the interior, made such bright spots of colour perfectly appropriate. The following are many of the names applied to patterns formed in finger-nail work :—*velpota* (Fig. 133), *adara-koṇḍu* (plain lines), *bindu* and *galbindu* (diamond-shaped spots), *kola vela* (an interlacing ‘branch’ or ‘vine’ pattern), *pala peti* (petal pattern), *lanu geṭa* (plait patterns), *patura* (elongated isosceles triangles), *bō-kola* (*bō*-leaf), *dẹla* (net pattern), *suli vẹla* (another vine pattern). For illustrations of these see Pl. XXIV., and Figs. 132 and 133.