Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.32

c24.32

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.†”