An impressive repoussé gold casket

Sri Lanka, Probably Kandy, 19th/ 20th Century

Footnotes

Provenance
Private UK collection.

The present casket is an extremely fine and large example of Kandyan metalwork, the decoration of which is remarkable for its intricacy, covering every surface of the casket and incorporating numerous Sri Lankan decorative motifs. The kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy established in the late 15th century and enduring until the 19th century, covering the central and eastern parts of the Island. Under this Kingdom, the city of Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy. Sinhalese craftsmanship flourished in the Kandyan districts and, following the British occupation in 1815, The Kandyan Art Association was founded in 1882 in order to revitalise traditional Kandyan arts and crafts.

Many traditional Sri Lankan design elements are featured on our casket. The first notable inclusions are those of the sun and moon. A. K. Coomaraswamy notes that these are both among the magul-lakunu (auspicious symbols), and that in painted decoration the sun always features a human face, and the moon includes the figure of a hare, as on the present lot (A. K. Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, 1956, p. 81). An example of painted decoration featuring the humanoid sun is illustrated in the same publication (Pl. XVI). The moon and the hare is often found on vihara walls, and can be seen in the architectural decoration of the the Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy, which features a moon and rabbit sculptural relief. The iconography stems from the legend of the Hare and the Moon, in which a hare offers itself as food in sacrifice to Sakra disguised as a Brahmin, for which Sakra rewarded him by painting his figure on the moon. The humanoid sun and moon are also featured on the flag of the Sabaragamuwa Province, introduced in 1987.

The double-headed bird motifs on the sides of the casket are known as the Bherunda Pakshaya, a motif popular in European heraldry which was adopted in Ceylon via early Dutch or Portuguese contact. They are found on temples such as the Buddhist Temple of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. This motif is also used in a lock plate illustrated in A. K. Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, 1956, p. 196, Fog. 104. Also illustrated in the same publication is the base of a brass heppuva, betel box, which features interlacing hamsa motifs similar to those found on the base of our casket (op. cit. p. 202, Fig. 123). A further tray in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, features a central roundel with three intertwined hamsas (IM.124-1926), and also incorporates elephants, as seen in the present lot.

Another important Sri Lankan symbol, the simha, is featured prominently on the lid of our casket, bookending the sun and moon. The lion is the mythical ancestor of the Sinhalese, representing power, majesty and dignity, and features on the national flag of Sri Lanka. Completing the motifs on the lid is the serapendiya, also known as gurulupakshaya, a beast with the head of a lion and the body of a bird, which are most commonly found depicted in metalwork and ivory objects (op. Cit., p. 83), such as in a 17th Century jewel casket in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession No. 2022.386). The jewel casket also includes similar nari-lata figures within its decoration to those on the base of the present lot, the nari-lata-vela being a mythical vine whose flowers take the form of a woman, as well as comparable bands of petals and intricate foliate scrollwork. In this way, the present casket follows a long history of artistry, showcasing an intricate and detailed map of traditional Sinhalese design elements that results in a tour de force of Sri Lankan craftsmanship.