Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c24.65

c24.65

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.