A Ceylonese ebony cabinet, Sri Lanka, circa 1680-1700
Auction Closed
October 26, 12:30 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
of rectangular form supported on four bun feet, the front with two hinged doors opening to reveal 6 drawers all lined in blue leather, the central draw with hidden compartment, the top drawer divided into 4 compartments, the surface carved with scrolling plants issuing fleshy lotus palmettes, the exterior doors with a pair of kinnaris, the top with a seated deity encircled by birds and further lotus palmettes, the back with a central lotus rosette flanked by quadrupeds and birds, the sides with a serapendiya, bordered by narrow diaper kundi rakkan bands, later metal mounts, handles and key
32.5 by 29 by 23cm.
Sri Lanka was renowned for its supply of premium woods such as ebony, calamander and satinwood. Here ebony has been used, a timber that has always been held in high regard. The richly decorated panels carved in differing degrees of relief reveal the skill of the Sinhalese craftsmen. The fleshy scrolls issuing flowers and fruit are indicative of the island's vegetal abundance. Their stylisation a cross-fertilisation of Dutch and Sinhalese decorative elements that appear on furniture, textiles and silver from across the Dutch East India Company's (VOC) territories. The mythical kinnaris, serapendiya and the kundi rakkan banding are typical forms of Sinhalese ornamentation (see Coomaraswamy 1908 pp.81, 83 and 108). For cabinets of similar form and decoration see Veenendaal 1985 pl.25, 29 and 58. Late seventeenth-century Sinhalese furniture and objects with related carved decoration are found in the Royal Collection Trust (21610, 21611), the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (1993.29) and the British Museum (1943.0712.4).
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