Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24: Chapter XIII. Earthenware
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24
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Chapter XIII. Earthenware
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THE rather simple types of earthenware made and used by Sinhalese for ceremonial, architectural, and domestic purposes are more varied than might at first sight be supposed, and, apart from any question of painted pottery, will be found to possess much excellence in respect of beauty of form and adaptation to the end in view. This last consideration it is which determines the primary form of the vessels. Hardly any work of a merely ornamental character falls to be considered in the present paper. It is, however, this primarily utilitarian character and aim which give so much charm to the elegance of form and very simple decoration which accompany it; it has been said, indeed, that ugly pottery can only be made by an exertion of the cultivated intellect, and has only been so made in comparatively modern times. Much the same is true of India, where unglazed pottery is everywhere made for domestic and other purposes. Says Sir George Birdwood: "Truest to nature in the directness and simplicity of its forms, and their adaptation to use, and purest in art, of all its homely and sumptuary handicrafts, is the pottery of India, and the forms of it shown on ancient Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, and the ancient Buddhist paintings of Ajaṇṭa, are identical with those still everywhere thrown from the village hand-wheels." We do not, however, find in Ceylon the more elaborate types of glazed pottery made in some parts of India; but it will be found that Sinhalese pottery fulfils the requirements of good workmanship in earthenware: viz., first, the vessel must be of a shape convenient for its purpose; secondly, that shape must be one that arises naturally from the mode of manufacture and exhibits to advantage the plastic properties of clay, without becoming weak or fanciful; thirdly, ornament should not interfere with usefulness and should be appropriate in amount and character in relation to the purpose of the vessel and the material it is made of; fourthly, smoothness of surface and elaborate refinements (however good in their right place) are not to be thought of as ends in themselves, and may appear unsuitable if striven for in vessels meant for ordinary daily use and made of a material not over fine. Nevertheless, the application of some simple glaze would not be out of place, and it is perhaps rather strange that it is never met with in Ceylon.*
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The Sinhalese potters (baḍahēlayō) are found all over the country in every village affording the necessary clay, but often aggregated in greater numbers in places where an especially good supply of suitable clay is available. Thence the potter carries his pots for sale to more remote districts in huge pingo loads. Nowadays a good deal of pottery is taken in carts along the cart roads; in this way the fine red pots made by a settlement of Tamils at Nikapata near Haputale travel down the road to Balaṅgoḍa, and the Keḷani pots with their white incised patterns come up to Ratnapura and Kēgalla and even Kandy. Some pottery is also imported from Southern India.
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The general duties of potters have been enumerated on p. 25, above. Like other craftsmen, potters held land either directly from the Crown, from the proprietor of a nindagama or the grantee of a royal village, or from a vihāra or dēvāle. Every manor had not only its smith to make and mend the tools of the grantee, a washer to wash the clothes, and other service tenants, but also a potter, ‘to fit them with Earthen Ware.’ He, like other tenants, supplied the king or lord with earthenware as service rent, but was paid for work done for others. The baḍahēla-badda formed one of the 14 Departments of Public Works; the contingent from the Four Kōrales is described as follows:—
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"In Galboḍa Kōrale and Paraṇakūru Kōrale are eight potters under the orders of a vidāne of their own caste appointed by the Disāva. In Kiṅdigoḍa Kōrale and Beligal Kōrale are fourteen under another *vidane*, but sometimes one *vidāne* is appointed over the potters of these three *kōrales*.
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∗ Enamelled tiles are found at Anurādhapura.
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ware
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“The potters of the first division attend on duty in Kandy during one month at the *Maha Gabaḍāva*, and are then relieved by those of the second division, who serve one month more. During this period they are obliged to furnish as many earthen vessels (*valan*) as are required for the *Maha Gabaḍāva*, and to make tiles and bricks and perform any other potter’s work required for the king’s service. At their departure from duty each division supplies one hundred earthen vessels to the Disāva’s house.
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“This two months’ duty is performed in rotation with the potters of the upper districts, the Seven Korales, Uva, and Mātale, and recurs once in ten months.
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“In the Disāvanaya they are bound to furnish tiles, bricks, and all kinds of pottery for the Disāva’s use, and earthen vessels to the different resthouses (*vaḍi*) when the king or ambassadors come into the Disāvanaya.”*
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The following are examples of potter’s services due to the proprietor of *nindagam* and to *dēvāles* or *vihāras*:
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At the village of Kinigama in Mātale North, Dulḷeve Adigār owned seven *ninda paṅgu*. The services due from the three tenants (Āracci Paṇḍitayalāgē, Badde Vidānayalāgē, and Upāsaka Paṇḍitayalāgē) of six of these were “at the old and new year to give a pingo (yoke load) of earthenware consisting of twelve small pots or a proportional number of large pots, and a separate *peṇuma* such as a goblet or jug, if the tenant is expert enough to make them, if not he brings forty leaves of betel; he repairs the roof of the *valavva* with tiles provided by the proprietor; on great occasions, weddings, or devil dances he brings cooking vessels.”
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In Koṭagēpiṭiya a potter named Paṇḍitagē owed the following services to the Haṅguraṅketa Pattini Dēvāle for two *pēḷas* of field and two *kuruṇis* *hen*: “yearly to give two *valankat* (pingo loads of pottery), one for the *perahera* and the other for the *Alutsal*; to present a *valankada* to the Basnāyaka Nilame at the *perahera*; to make tiles when required (clay and firewood being supplied); to shift the tiles of the Dēvāle.” These services were commutable for Rs. 5.85.
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The Kuṇḍasāle Vihāra has one *valandena paṅguva* in Valala. “Tenants: Paṇḍitagedara Komali. Services (commutable for Rs. 16.20): to supply for the four festivals eight pingos of earthenware, two for each festival, each pingo consists of two *tāli*, two *kaḷageḍi*, two *koras*, two *ṇembili*, two *bat-valan*, three *loku-appalla*, six *appalla-poḍi*, one *eṭiliya*, and one *dummaḷa kabala*; for the *Alutsal Maṅgalya* to give four large *muṭṭi*; for the *Kārti Maṅgalya* fifty *karti-pan*; for the *Nanamura Maṅgalya* two *embuḷ muṭṭi*; after the New Year to offer the incumbent six *appalla-poḍi* and two *puṇci muṭṭi* as a *peṇuma*.”†
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These extracts will show what sort of services were rendered by the potters in respect of the lands held by them. They worked also for themselves and their neighbours, receiving payment from the latter in money or, more often, in kind.
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The potter may be found at work in the verandah of his house, or sometimes in a separate shed wholly devoted to the work. His appliances are, as may be supposed, simple enough. His wheel (*pōruva*) is a circular board about 2½ feet in diameter mounted on a stone pivot which fits into a larger stone socket embedded in the ground, the horizontal surface of the wheel itself standing not more than six inches above the ground (Fig. 134). The wheel is turned by a boy (Pl. V, 1) who squats on the ground opposite the potter and keeps it going with his hands. A lump of clay is dumped on the wheel, enough for half a dozen or more pots, and they are moulded one by one under the potter’s hands, cut off, and set aside to dry. To finish off the rims, a strip of wet cotton is used; with this the potter smooths off the edges as the wheel turns, and pressing through it with his nail, he makes the little mouldings at the top. As removed from the wheel the pots are bottomless and have to dry for a few hours or a day or two before they can be finished; when they are ready the potter takes a smooth stone in his left hand and a sort of wooden bat (*valantalana lella*) in his right hand, and holding the stone inside the vessel he beats and pats its sides till finally they meet across the bottom (Pl. V., 2); the vessel is rubbed smooth with the bat.* Occasionally the surface is polished by rubbing with a smooth seed. Any ornament required is now added, and the pot is ready for the fire. Firing is done in a low kiln with stone sides and a domed covering of wet clay and sticks. The kiln is square in plan, and has three or four openings along one side for the insertion of fuel, and on the other sides smaller openings for the escape of air. Long sticks are used for fuel, pushed through the openings by degrees as they burn away. The kiln is usually protected from the weather by a rough shed.
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∗ Sir John D’Oyley’s ‘Sketch of the Constitution of the Kandyan Kingdom’ (T.R.A.S., London, Vol. III., Part II., 1833). † Lawrie, ‘Gazetteer of the Central Province of Ceylon,’ p. 441, 476, 495.
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Fig. 134. Section of potter’s wheel in situ. A. Wheel (diameter 28 inches). B, C. Stone pivot and socket. G, G. Ground level.
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The clay used is alluvial material such as is obtainable in most valley rice fields. The best kind is very dark and stiff; the colour after firing varies from a fine terracotta red to a rather unpleasant yellowish gray.
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As Knox observed so long ago, the Sinhalese are apt at making “all sorts of earthenware to boil, stew, fry, and fetch water in.” Generic terms for all pots are *heḷiya*, *kaḷasa*, and *walaṇda*. They may be classified according to form into *kaḷageḍi*, *muṭṭi*, *appalla*, and *eṭili*; the *kaḷageḍiya* approaches a complete sphere, the others are successively shallower. The *kaḷageḍiya* is a water-carrying vessel indispensable to every family. Four examples are shown in Pl. XXV., 1—4. It is carried by women on the hip, the arm passing round the neck. A favourite dance of the alatte women (women of a *gikiyana*—a *naṭana paṅguva* holding) is the *kaḷageḍi neṭima* (dancing with new pots); the pot used becomes the dancer’s perquisite, but such *kaḷageḍi* are, I think, smaller than those in general use. The *muṭṭiya* has a wide mouth and is a vessel used for boiling rice. Pl. XXV., 5, shows a decorated *muṭṭiya* used for new rice at the *Alutsal Maṅgalya* at the Kuṇḍasāle Vihāra. An ordinary *muṭṭiya* is seen on the worker’s right hand in Pl. V., 2, also against the wall, Pl. V., 3. *Muṭṭi* are used for other general purposes; pots used to collect kitul syrup are, for example, called *uga-muṭṭi*. *Embul muṭṭi* are pots made to hold the medicinal preparation of the juices of plants used at the *Nanamura Maṅgalya*.† *Appalla* are shallower vessels used for cooking curries; these are (larger) *loku-appalla* and (smaller) *appalla-poḍi*. *Eṭili* are shallow pots for cooking curries (see Pl. V., 1, between the potters). A larger sort of broad shallow pan (used for cooking sweetmeats or other special purposes; a variety with handles (called *kanbola eṭiliya*) is shown on Pl. XXV., 12.
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∗ For use of stone and mallet in India, see ‘Journal of Indian Art,’ Vol. VII., Pl. 58 and accompanying article. † The astrologers, at New Year, “had to superintend the preparation of a thousand small pots of the juices of wild medicinal plants at the Nata devale, from whence, carefully covered and sealed, they were to be sent to the palace, and distributed with much ceremony to the other temples” (Davy, ‘Travels in Ceylon,’ p. 168).
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Beside the above-mentioned four types there are other vessels, of which the *nembiliya* Earthen- (= *nambu* + *heliya*) is the most important. This is a shallow dish with a rim projecting ware; inwards and completely covered inside with an elegant arrangement of deep furrowings (Pl. XXV., 10). These are scored before firing by means of a rough wooden comb *Nembiliya* (*irigahana kaṭuva*), a process illustrated in Pl. V., 4. The *nembiliya* is used for washing rice to remove stones and dirt, very much as a gemming basket is used to separate the heavier gem minerals from the common lighter constituents of the gravel. The fragments of grit, &c., remain behind in the grooves of the *nembiliya*, or are held back by its inwardly projecting rim, as the rice is stirred up in the water and gently poured over the edge; this vessel is in daily use in every household. A similar vessel made to stand by the addition of a ring foot is called a *koraha*; the ring foot is not made in one piece with the rest of the vessel, but is added after the completion of the underside of the vessel as if for a *nembiliya*; this vessel in this stage is inverted on the wheel and the ring of fresh clay added to form a foot.
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A more typical *koraha*, however, is the larger type sometimes called *polkoraha* and shown *Koraha* on Pl. XXV., 7. These large pots are used for various general purposes, but especially by dhobies for washing clothes, and by mothers for washing their children. A *vil-koraha* is a large vessel used for soaking seed paddy.
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A shallow dish with a ring foot (thus resembling the smaller type of *koraha*, but without internal furrowing) is sometimes used for eating rice from, and is called a *batvalaṇḍa*.
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A vessel rarely seen is the *pōrnuva*, or oven (Pl. XXV., 6), a large three-legged affair with a *Pōrnuva* big lid; the interior is half filled with sand, and the oven is said to be very efficient; the sand (as in the "sand bath" of the chemical laboratory) both retains the heat and preserves an even temperature.
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Large wide-mouthed vessels with lids, formerly used for storing cloths and garments, are *Pili-heliya* called *pili-heliya* (Pl. LII., 4), or if smaller *halu-heliya*. Clothes in such vessels were better protected from white ants than if stored in wooden boxes.
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The name *kalaha* (*kalaśa*, *kaḷaya*), equivalent to Sanskrit *kalaśa*, is strictly applicable to all *Kalaha* vessels with only one opening, especially those of the *kaḷageḍiya* type; but it is more specially applied to a kind of vase open at both ends, but otherwise resembling a *kaḷageḍiya* with an extended neck (Pl. XXVI., 12), and used for holding sprays of coconut flower on auspicious and ceremonial occasions (weddings, *maṅgalya*, &c.) a pair being placed on the two sides of the doorway, or as lamp stands, especially at festivals.
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A *tāliya* is a large wide-mouthed vessel similar to a *pātra*. A *pin-tāliya* is such a vessel of *Tāliya* water set by the wayside for the use of travellers. Such vessels are to be seen everywhere, usually supported in a forked branch, often roofed over. The vessel has usually a wooden lid, and a ladle (*kinissa*). It is not customary in the East to apply the lips to the rim of such a common drinking vessel, but the water is poured from the bowl of the ladle (or from the spout of a *kotalaya*) into the hollow of the left hand held against the mouth. This admirable sanitary precaution might with advantage be adopted in the West.
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A particularly interesting piece of earthenware is the *bummeḍiya* (which may be translated *Bummeḍiya* "bullfrog"). This is a vessel open at both ends like a *kalaha*, but the difference of diameter between the two ends is greater; there is a large belly as in a *kaḷageḍiya*; the large end is covered with a *taḷogya* skin (attached with paste made from *habaralissa*, or from rice and plantain), and a strap is added for hanging over the shoulder. The drum so made is used at harvest times and for *likeliya*.
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Money boxes are made at Keḷaniya in the form of a *mamma*. This is a world-wide and very old form for a money box, the idea being the suggestion of abundance and plenty. It is, in fact, sympathetic magic.
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Earthenware
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Earthen spittoons (*paḍikkam*) and one-handled mugs (*pūkuru*) are occasionally seen. Earthen stills are used in preparing arrack from the fermented juice of the coconut, and in making *dummala* oil.*
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A piece of earthenware only used locally is the *lipa* (Pl. XXVI., 7). This is a low cylindrical earthen stand replacing the three stones (*liggal*) which are usually used to raise the cooking pot above the fire upon the ground. Finally we have the elegant *gini kabala* or fire dish (Pl. XXV., 11), which is a form rarely met with, but suitable for use as a small hearth, or to provide a fire for the goldsmith’s blowpipe; but an ordinary *koraha* is more commonly used as *gini kabala*, as in the picture, Pl. VI., 6. A narrow-necked water vessel or goglet (*gurulettu*), generally rather rough in execution, is also sometimes met with. The list of domestic pottery is thus exhausted. It will be seen that it faithfully reflects the simplicity and lack of luxury characterizing the typical old-fashioned household. The vessels are few, and each serves some simple purpose for which it is specially adapted. The ordinary price of a *kalageḍiya* is about 20 to 25 cents, of a *nembiliya* 6 to 15 cents, of a *koraha* 25 to 50 cents. The value of this rough earthenware is thus so small that breakages are not of very serious consequence. Pieces of earthenware may remain in use for many years, and are occasionally even found to be mended. On the other hand, Davy stated that there was an ‘extraordinarily great’ consumption of earthenware amongst the Sinhalese inasmuch as “after a feast at which people of different castes have been entertained, all the earthenware vessels used on the occasion are destroyed.†”
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Ecclesiastical
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The vessels used especially in connection with vihāras and dēvāles may be spoken of collectively as ecclesiastical earthenware. Of these vessels the most common and most characteristic is the *kotalaya*; this is a spouted vessel for holding the water with which flower offerings are sprinkled. Either an earthen or a bronze *kotalaya* may be found in every vihāra; the bronze *kotala* are smaller and more elegant than the earthen. Earthen *kotala* are also in domestic use as drinking vessels. Pl. XXV., 8, shows a decorated *kotalaya* from Doḍantale Vihāra. A curious variety of the *kotalaya* is the *valalu kotalaya*, which must be inverted and filled from below. The same arrangement is sometimes found in the case of a *kotalaya* of the common form, but closed above, and then called *yatura kotalaya*, ‘secret jug.’
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Very large wide-mouthed earthen vessels called *pātra* are found in most vihāras and are used to hold water or to receive offerings of rice, &c., from worshippers. A very fine painted example is to be seen at Doḍantale Vihāra, but most specimens are plain or with very simple decoration of simple lines or of *bō*-leaves in red. Besides the big *pātras* used in vihāras, smaller earthen alms-bowls are made, though the alms-bowls actually used by priests are usually metal. Some potters (at Keḷaniya) make an alms-bowl for presentation to a priest, with every batch of pots turned out. Earthen incense burners (*dummala kabal*), often of very elegant form and skilful execution, are used in dēvāles and vihāras, the incense (powdered *dummala* resin) is sprinkled on burning charcoal carried on the *dummala kabala*. Two of these incense burners are shown on Pl. XXVI., 4 and 5.
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Wide-mouthed vessels decorated with moulded cobras, are used in Pattini Dēvāles to hold the *halamba*, and are called *halamba-heḷiya* or *nayi-heḷiya*. Similar vessels without cobra ornament are also made for betel leaves and thence called *bulat-heḷiya*.
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Specially small vessels (Pl. XXVI., 7) were made for the *kiri-uturaṇa maṅgalya* or ceremony of boiling milk at a dēvāle, generally after the New Year and after a *diya-kepima*. The boiled milk is sprinkled about the premises as an auspicious emblem of prosperity.
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∗ *Davy*, ‘*Travels in Ceylon*,’ p. 243; “*Ceylon National Review*,” No. 2, 1906, p. 238. † *Travels in Ceylon*, p. 125.
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Other ecclesiastical earthenwares include lamps (meṭi pahan) chiefly the small plain shallow Earthen-dishes for burning cocoanut oil with a cotton wick, and used in great quantities on festive occasions, being placed round the vihāras or dēvāles compound in niches provided for the purpose in the walls. They are also set up on lampstands (pankuḍuva, Pl. XXVI., 9 and 10) or protected from the wind in a lantern or cage (pankuḍuva, Pl. XXVI., 8). Occasionally very handsome and elaborately ornamented pankuḍu are met with, bearing a larger lamp above with notches for three wicks. These tall stands are made in several pieces, fitting one on to the other, the whole tapering slightly towards the top (Pl. XXVI., 11). A meṭi pandama is an earthen cresset used like those of metal as a torch, being filled with tow and oil and carried in processions.
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The pānava or pūnā-kaḷaya, used in devil-dancing ceremonies, is a remarkable vessel resembling a kotalaya with twelve spouts.* It is decorated with cobras and elaborately painted (Pl. XXVI., 6).
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Of architectural earthenware, the chief forms are tiles. The most characteristic and oldest types are flat. Such tiles are of nearly oblong form, but taper slightly upwards, where a projection on the under side serves to keep them from slipping off the reepers. Other flat tiles are pointed at the lower end, and very beautiful roofs are often seen in which the pointed and square ended tiles are arranged on patterns or in alternate rows, giving great variety. Tile hangers are very clever in covering all sorts of awkward angles and steep slopes (Pl. VI., 2), and good old Kandyan roofs are consequently very picturesque, an effect which is greatly enhanced by the change of slope which is usually found and which corresponds to a structural feature of the timbering. We sometimes, but not very often, meet with especial bent coping tiles of the flat type, but semi-cylindrical tiles are more commonly used. Flat tiles of the above types are usually ornamented with very simple parallel incised lines (Fig. 135); these seem to be a survival of the much deeper grooves which are to be seen on the old tiles so common at Sigiriya and Anurādhapura; the grooves were doubtless originally intended to facilitate the flow of rain water, but the simple incised lines found on Kandyan tiles are of no practical use for this purpose, and thus represent merely vestigial ornament.
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The roofing tiles most commonly seen at the present day are semi-cylindrical in form, tapering slightly upwards. They are often associated with flat tiles on the same roof, and are generally Eaves tiles
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∗ According to C. J. R. Le Mesurier (Nuvara Eliya Manual) the pūnāva must have also seven rims or tiers. This appears to be the case in the example figured (Pl. XXVI., 6).
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Fig. 135. Kandyan roofing and coping tiles. I.-VI, Flat roofing tiles; VII., VIII., Plan and section of coping tile; IX., Plan of ornamented semi-cylindrical coping tile. Scale of figs. I.-VIII., 1/3 cm.=1 inch. Scale of Fig. IX., 1/4 inch=1 inch.
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used also for ridge or coping tiles. These semi-cylindrical tiles are less characteristic than the flat ones, but, nevertheless, quite pleasing and satisfactory. When used four or five thick they are a very efficient protection against heat, owing to the layers of air which occupy the spaces between the tiles; they are generally so used in the northern districts. The new-fashioned Basel Mission and Mangalore tiles are perhaps slightly more convenient, especially in respect of leakage, but of course far less cool; in addition to which their rigid form and mechanical effect are distinctly unpleasant. Instead of the slight curves and irregularities of a roof covered with ordinary tiles, we see what is practically a plane surface crossed by strictly parallel lines which are wearisome and uninteresting. The ordinary tiles if well burnt and well laid are much to be preferred in respect of appearance and comfort; though requiring slightly more attention, for in the services due to temples we see regular provision made for the annual shifting of tiles.
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A special variety of tile is the eaves- or hanging tile, used on dēvāle and vihāra roofs to fringe the eaves. These tiles have a plain flat upper portion which passes under the last row of tiles at the edge of the roof, and is inclined at an angle of about 110-120° to the visible down-hanging part of the tile which forms the roof fringe and which is alone shown in the figures. The hanging part of these tiles is sometimes approximately square in form (Pl. XXVI., 1 and 2), but they have more often the shape of conventionalized bō-leaves (Fig. 136). Animal figures, usually those of the lion (simha) and goose (hamsa), are embossed on both the outer and inner surfaces of the hanging tile, but sometimes the inner less easily seen surface is left plain. This relievo decoration is effected by pressing down the tile on to a wooden mould on which the lion (found usually on the obverse) is engraved, the clay being pressed well into the mould from behind by the action of the fingers. The addition of ornament on the reverse is more difficult. The figure, usually a hamsa, is prepared in the same way by pressing soft clay into a suitable mould, but instead of the whole tile only the actual animal form is made, and when this is lifted off the mould it is applied to the back of the tile (the obverse of which has already been ornamented). The result of this pressing of both animal forms into hollow moulds is that when they are applied together back to back on the obverse and reverse of the tile there remains a hollow space within the tile, and between the two animal shells. It is usual to pierce a small round hole on the animal's body on the reverse side to admit of the escape of heated air when the tile is fired. The decorated tiles so made stand out in high relief, and show up well in brilliant sunshine. A simpler method results in the production of similarly decorated tiles with less relief. This result is attained by merely pressing the clay between the two wooden moulds. It is obvious that equally high relief cannot be obtained in this way, as there is no way of pressing the clay into the hollows of a deep mould.
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Fig. 136. Kandyan eaves-tiles, bō-leaf form, decorated with simha (A) and hamsa (B). A., Length 15½ inches. B., length about 8½ inches.
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Rectangular tiles with lions or geese are used for the decoration of wall surfaces, and are Earthen-then often painted to enhance their effect. Examples are to be seen at the Daḷadā Māligāva ware and at the Old Palace, Kandy.
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The handsome earthen finials, often decorated with cobras (Pl. VII., 2), which complete Finials the effect of a Kandyan roof must also be mentioned here. They are found on ambalams and on dēvales and vihāra roofs, where, however, the earthen finials are often replaced by more pretentious ones of gilt bronze. It should be remembered that in the old days only chiefs of the rank of a Disāva were allowed to build tiled houses; much less was it generally permitted to make use of finials on domestic roofs.
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Bricks (gaḍol) must also be briefly mentioned, though not very widely used, except in the Bricks erection of dāgabas and for some other special purposes. It may be remarked that they are of the rather flat narrow form which is so much more satisfactory in appearance and makes a stronger wall than the bricks of more nearly equal dimensions which are now more generally used.
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Mr. F. H. Modder has described the earthen rings (āra-keṭa) used for lining Kandyan wells Well-rings called āra lin. He says: “These wells are very common in the Kandyan district.* They are circular in shape, about three feet in diameter, and instead of being built up with stone, earthen rings made by the village potter, and each about a foot and a half broad, are inserted and fitted in from the bottom of the well, increasing from two feet in diameter as they come up to the top to three feet. The earthen rings are called āra-koṭṭa (-keṭa), and the wells are known as arakeṭa lin, abbreviated into āra lin. The āra-koṭṭa (-keṭa) help to keep the water cool, and if they could be made of larger dimensions so as to get into wells of all sizes, they would certainly be a useful and cheap substitute for stone. Each of the rings used at present can be made at a cost of about 37½ cents, and the cost of a well thus built would not exceed a couple of rupees.”† Urākeṭa well-rings are more often made of wood, generally the hollowed segment of a tree.
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† *J.C.B.R.A.S., Vol. XIII., No. 44, 1893, p. 38.*
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In describing the ordinary methods of ornamenting earthen vessels, I refer only to such Ornament decoration as is applied before firing. What is ordinarily known as ‘painted Kandyan pottery’ is painted with oil colours (formerly with water colour varnished) after the pots are fired, and this work will not be referred to in the present section. Leaving that oil-painted pottery aside, the decoration of pottery may be classed as incised, stamped, and slip-painted. The simplest form of slip-painting is the application of concentric bands of red, to apply which the vessel is inverted on the wheel, which is revolved slowly while the brush is held against it (see Pl. V., 3, where a kaḷageḍiya is being thus treated). The red paint is made by grinding up with water certain ferruginous nodules and concretions called gurugal, while white paint is similarly made from kaolin. Beside the plain stripes, simple geometrical ornaments in red or white is sometimes seen, as on the pōrṇuva (Pl. XXV., 6). Black stripes are sometimes done with graphite.
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Incised ornament, if more than a mere concentric line, is usually combined with the red Incised striped painting. The pot is allowed to get very hard and dry and the pattern then engraved Ornament on the red bands with a sharp tool. Pl. XXV., 2, shows a kaḷageḍiya so treated. This vessel is ornamented with alternate concentric stripes of red and gray; the incised ornament (Fig. 137, A) is cut on the red bands, of which the uppermost has geometrical forms only, the middle a conventional branch or vine (veḷa), and the ornament on the lowest red band consists of fishes alternating with a sort of inverted trident; on a still lower zone, a few upright lines appear in widely separated groups. The pattern after burning stands out on the lighter colour of the plain clay, against the darker red due to the gurugala paint. Highly finished water vessels (kaḷageḍi) are made at Keḷaniya, and on these the incised decoration reaches its highest level of design and execution. It is usually made conspicuous by an infilling of kaolin after firing. Fig. 137, B.-D., shows part of the incised ornament on such pots. The remarkably Greek appearance of these designs will be remarked. The Keḷani pottery is much appreciated, and as already stated travels far and wide. There is also made a great variety of grotesque animals, toys, money boxes, &c., which hardly call for further notice on the present occasion.
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∗ *I have not myself seen such a well. Mr. Parker (J.C.B.R.A.S., Vol. VIII., No. 27, 1884, p. 32) describes ancient earthen well-rings from Tissamaharama, and indicates that similar ones were in use in the South and East of Ceylon. For other forms of earthen ware, see further the same article by Mr. Parker.*
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Fig. 137. Incised ornament of earthenware. A. Peḷmaḍulla; B., C., D., Keḷaniya; E. Mātara. A.—D. from kaḷageḍi; E. from a goglet. Variously reduced.
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One special form of incised ornament has already been referred to, i.e., furrowing inside nembili. The utilitarian object of this grooving has been indicated, but, nevertheless, the arrangement of the groovings will be found to differ much in various specimens, and always to be elegant and decorative.
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The incised ornamentation of tiles has also been referred to above; examples are shown in Fig. 135, where Nos. 1-6 represent flat roofing tiles, Nos. 7 and 8 a coping or ridge tile in plan and section, and No. 9 a semi-cylindrical ridge tile with incised ornament,—such as is only very rarely met with, however, on the curved tiles.
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The most beautiful decoration is put on with wooden stamps (accu), which are of varied form. The simplest are merely blunt wooden chisels with which simple various arrangements of lines are formed, as in Fig. 138, A, B, taken from two pots from Koḷonnāva; in one of these a small triangular stamp is also used. Fig. 138, C, is from another Koḷonnā kaḷageḍiya which is shown in full on Pl. XXV., 3; we have here an elaborate rosette beside some other simpler forms. Fig. 138, D, from the muṭṭiya of Pl. XXV., 5 (from Kuṇḍasāle), and Fig. 139, from Pl. XXV., 1 (from near Balaṅgoḍa), show a still more excellent type of stamped decoration with conventionalized bō-leaf forms in addition to simple lines and rosettes. The kotalaya of Pl. XXV., 8, is also ornamented with bō-leaves and rosettes. The constant application of the bō-leaf decoration in all sorts of Kandyan work is very remarkable; its outline can be recognized sometimes only with difficulty; at other times it is exceedingly obvious. We have already seen certain hanging tiles of this form, and now find it again as a stamp.
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Before leaving the subject of stamped ornament, brief reference must be made to the finger-mark decoration seen on the larger koraha of Pl. XXV., 7, a type of decoration often seen on the modern flowerpots also.
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The general subject of painted pottery lies somewhat outside the scope of the present chapter; for the painting is of the same character as that applied to book covers, woodwork, and other objects, and is applied to earthenware only after it has left the potter's hands.
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Painted pottery
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The best work has been done in the Kandy District, but comparatively little of real delicacy is now met with, while a great deal of careless gaudy stuff is to be seen. Tall classical amphoræ*, too, are now largely made and painted, usually very badly, and considering their exotic form and poor decoration are not very pleasing.
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The only colours properly used in painting pottery are red, yellow, white, and black, i.e., the ordinary pigments of the Kandyan painter. The designs and decoration are also identical with those found in other paintings, so that there is no need to describe them in further detail upon the present occasion.
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The subject of Sinhalese (especially Kandyan) pottery has now been reviewed in some detail, although there are many points on which fuller information would be desirable. A full account of early types of earthenware found at Sīgiri, Anurādhapura, and elsewhere would be of great value and interest. It is also possible that I have overlooked some forms of earthenware to be found in other districts than those (chiefly Sabaragamuva and the Central Province) which I have especially studied. I have found, however, that once a familiarity with the typical forms had been obtained, I scarcely ever met with aberrant or unusual forms; in other words there is great fixity of type, and we do not find individual potters experimenting on their own account, probably because the fixed types exactly fulfil the purposes for which they were required, and it would not occur to the potter to work for mere amusement or for the production of beautiful forms apart from practical ends. Nor was the material available, or the potter’s skill sufficient, to so interest the leisured or more wealthy classes as to lead to a demand for decorative pottery considered apart from ordinary household requirements.
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The most elaborate earthenware we meet with is made for use in connection with religious buildings, for the needs of which the king or other rich patrons were willing to secure the services of all the best workmen, or for which the potter was willing to work unpaid, or to which he had to supply earthenware as a service rent.
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The art of pottery has degenerated far less than the other Sinhalese industrial arts, and though there is nowadays little demand for good work in decorated finials, imposing lamp-stands or moulded eaves-tiles, the potter’s ordinary wares have not changed much, either lately, or probably even for a very long time. We may congratulate ourselves then that Sinhalese pottery has so far degenerated very little; this is mainly because it is so cheap and so intimately adapted to local requirements as not to invite the competition of imported machine-made wares. Unfortunately, however, the kerosine tin has made some progress, and is commonly seen in use instead of a kaḷageḍiya. This is pitiful, but less fatal than a degeneration of form in the kaḷageḍiya itself. The growing use of Basel Mission and Mangalore tiles is more to be regretted, no less on the score of comfort than of appearance; an ancient building re-covered with such tiles, perhaps subscribed for at considerable cost by poor village contributors to some vihāra funds, is robbed of most of its distinctive character. Is it too much to ask those concerned to take a little trouble and exercise some thought in dealing with such buildings? Now that the old sumptuary laws forbidding tiled roofs to any but Disāvas are no longer in force, the builder of a new house might even, if he cared to do so, make it beautiful by giving due consideration to its roof. Unfortunately, the elements of beauty or dignity, which may enter into even such homely matters, are the last which are likely to influence him; and at the same time the capacity for good work in making and laying tiles is dying out, so that it is increasingly difficult to get it, and a majority of persons are scarcely aware that good work ever was done, or can recognize it when they see it.
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∗ I have sometimes wondered if these can possibly be indigenous, but have never seen old examples.