TWO SINHALESE POLYCHROME-PAINTED AND LACQUERED BOWS
Kandy, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 18th - early 19th century

Two fine Sinhalese lacquered longbows of round cross-section, each with tapering ends and thicker centres, the canes painted in vermillion red, orpiment yellow, and black, the traditional decoration consisting of overlapping bands of beaded and geometric fretwork, zig-zag lattice, rosette medallions, and dense vegetal scrollwork, the strings now missing, the longest 198cm.

Provenance: from a private UK collection in Dorset, once part of the grandfather's collection of the present vendor.

The art of archery was well-established among the Sinhalese people. A few longbows similar to this can be seen in private and museum collections, such as the National Museum in Colombo. The lacquered decoration on this longbow is called mātale, also referred to as niyapoten vẹḍa or "finger-nail work". This refers to the fact that the lacquer is not applied with a brush. Instead, the highly viscous hot lacquer is pulled in strings using a stick, and the string is applied directly to the desired surface, its end cut off by the lacquer masters' fingernail. The resulting work is very distinctive, as explained by Ananda Coomaraswamy in Mediaeval Sinhalese art, 1908, pp. 215 - 217. Two other Sinhalese lacquered bows, presenting matale decoration, were successfully sold in these Rooms, 29 October 2020, lot 417, and 29 April 2022, lot 292.