A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s6.36

c13.s6.36

Perhaps the most notable of the Ceylon bronzes is that first discovered—an image of the goddess Pattinī Devī, found near the north-eastern coast somewhere between Trincomalee and Batticalwa, and presented to the British Museum in 1830. It stands 4 feet 9½ inches in height, and is composed of a metal which looks like brass, but may be a pale bronze (Plate L). It seems to have been originally gilt. The age of the work is doubtful. The cleverness with which the transparency of the skirt is shown recalls similar skill exhibited in the Gupta sculpture of the fifth century in Northern India (*ante*, p. 170), but it would be rash to attribute such an early date to the Ceylonese image for that reason only, and it is difficult to find any other test of its age.