Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c38.35

c38.35

6. Carved plank bed. This is a particularly old and fine example of Kandyan wood carving. The border on three sides consists of an archaic arrangement of lotus flowers in full and side view; the two lower corners and the centre are carved with different lotus forms, the lower right hand one being unfinished. The blank border at the top represents the space occupied by the head board. The table measures 34 × 72¼ inches. The centre lotus is supported on the left by a kind of stalk. On the right is a tree, with strange bird-like forms affronted. On the left, a little above the centre, an excavation has been made (covered in the picture by a restoration), and a game-board cut out, similar to those shown on Plate XII. The legs on the table when obtained, were probably not original, and have been replaced by old bench legs from Jaffna, of a type, also, but more rarely met with in Sinhalese districts. Author’s collection.