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

An intact Sinhalese lacquered longbows and another truncated at the top, each of round cross-section, the complete one presenting tapering ends and a thicker centre, both canes painted in vermillion red, orpiment yellow, and black, the longest decorated with overlapping bands of beaded fretwork, zig-zag lattice, horseshoe-shaped arches, rosette medallions, and diamond-shaped grids, the latter with a charming yellow grid with drop-shaped niches filled with stylised black lotus flowers, the strings now missing, the intact bow 184cm long, the other 136cm long.

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