Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.41

c24.41

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.