N IN E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y C A R V ED E B O N Y

F U R N IT U R E FR O M SRI L A N K A : SUGGESTED
M ETH O D S OF IN T E R P R E T A T IO N

Robin Jones

This article will suggest methods for the interpretation of furniture manufactured in a
European colony, specifically carved ebony furniture made on the island of Ceylon/Sri
Lanka during the nineteenth century. W hilst including exam ples o f the various
categories of empirical evidence regarding this type of furniture, the first part of the
article takes the form of a suggested framework to interpret Sri Lankan furniture. A
model for the structure of this paper is found in an article by B. D. Cotton,1 where
research methods for the study of British regional furniture are outlined.
The historian of colonial furniture faces a number of difficulties of both a conceptual
and a geographical nature. As with much eighteenth and nineteenth century British made
furniture, a large proportion of colonial furniture, at some stage in its history, has been
removed from its place of production. Unlike most British furniture, however, this
displacement can be from one continent to another. Primary sources regarding the
production and use of furniture made in the colonies can be elusive, incomplete or non­
existent. Much European-style, colonial furniture is reassuringly familiar in terms of its
form and style but disarmingly unfamiliar in terms of non-European timber, ornament
and methods of construction. Much of the historiography of furniture produced under
European colonial control in Asia is now outdated and shows a preference for a Euro­
centric approach,2 which bypasses or does not acknowledge the skill, creativity and
longevity of craft traditions in the production of artifacts prior to and during contact
with Europe.3 This historiography, including recent publications, which contain useful
documentary material4 also tends to concern itself, for the most part, with appreciation
of visual form and typologies of ornament.
Any category of furniture is an expression of the material culture in which it has been
designed, produced, purchased and used. The productive process becomes complicated
as far as colonial furniture is concerned, in that producers and users do not share
common cultural values. It is true that during the nineteenth century a greater
commonality of cultural values developed in many colonies amongst the limited number
of groups in the indigenous population, which took advantage of European educational
opportunities offered to them.5 However, the cultural gulf between artisan/craft classes
and the European cultural hegemony of the colonists left an almost unbridgeable divide.
It is, perhaps, this mismatch of cultural values which has focused the study of European
style colonial artifacts in the directions mentioned above. It is suggested in this article
that, using European-style Sri Lankan furniture of the nineteenth century as a case study,
such as articles of the type illustrated as Fig. i, an interdisciplinary framework can be
adopted to analyse the interrelationship between coloniser and colonised in the sphere of
furniture production. The key disciplines from which this framework derives comprise

Regional Furniture Volume X 1996

- s M M I i I N I H C 1 N 1 l R Y C A R \ 1 1) I BON Y I L R M | { R l

i . Sri Lankan Carved Ebony Tea Caddy, of

European form, c. 1 8 3 0 . Height 87cm , width
47cm , depth 33cm
Spink and Son, London

anthropology and furniture history. Specifically, within the field of anthropology,

methods from material culture studies, works on commoditisation and consumption,
will be used. For example, a model suggested by I. Kopytoff,6 in The Social Life o f
Things (1986) for the interpretation of the complete lifespan of an object or its ‘cultural
biography’, including its production, first use, and exchange is of particular value to the
study of Sri Lankan furniture. As he states ‘Biographies of things can make salient what
might otherwise remain obscure. For example, in situations of culture contact, they can
show what anthropologists have so often stressed: that what is significant about the
adoption of alien objects — as of alien ideas — is not the fact that they are adopted, but
the way they are culturally redefined and put to use.’7 The ‘cultural biography’ of
nineteenth century European-style Sri Lankan furniture will encompass its manufacture
to European requirements by indigenous craftsmen working within and mediated
through ancient and localised traditions, though demonstrating knowledge of prior
cultural contacts with Europe (through the Portuguese and Dutch). The biography will
encompass the purchase and use of that furniture in the colony of manufacture or an
adjacent colony (i.e. British possessions in India), and its possible transfer to Europe,
where it remains a familiar yet alien object, removed from the context of commissioning
and manufacture, a remnant of the exotic. The biographical approach to colonial
 ROBIN JONES 29

artifacts, particularly regarding those made in the nineteenth century, comprehends the
production of furniture in Sri Lanka and its appearance at the various International
Exhibitions in Europe. The idea of a commodity phase in the ‘ life’ of an article of
furniture suggested by Kopytoff and others, is particularly appropriate in this case, as
the articles of furniture, cloth, potter)' and so on, sent from the colonies for exhibition in
Europe, were intended to represent the diversity and abundance of commodities
available to the colonising power from those colonies.5 The approach suggested in this
article encompasses the production of Sri Lankan furniture, the transcultural context of
its production and its consumption. As A. Appadurai states in The Social Life o f Things,
‘. . . we have to follow the things themselves, for their meanings are inscribed in their
forms, their uses, their trajectories’ and ‘even though from a theoretical point of view
human actors encode things with significance, from a methodological point of view, it is
the things in motion that illuminate their human and social context’.9 It is suggested that
in order to analyse the material output of the cultural interaction between coloniser and
colonised, it is necessary to fully comprehend both sides of that interaction.
The ‘biography’ of nineteenth century Sri Lankan furniture can be illuminated by an
analysis o f the W est’ s defining and categorising the supposedly ‘ exo tic’ East, as
suggested in Edward Said’s Orientalism (19 7 8 ).10 Whilst Said’s thesis is developed from
textual analysis, i.e. western writing about ‘the Orient’, his methods have been applied
to the study of the production and perception of objects. Within this framework, Sri
Lanka’s furniture makers can be seen as supplying a market for products which were
closely defined by the European/British consumer and in which the producer had
marginal input. It is extremely difficult to establish from documentary sources how the
makers of European-style furniture in Sri Lanka regarded the furniture which they were
producing. In a number of contemporary accounts of the island European writers speak
for the cabinet makers, for exam ple commenting on their com plaints about the
sharpness of British tools in dealing with the toughness of Sri Lankan timber." Said’s
ideas have been explored by certain design historians.12 The appearance at a number of
International Exhibitions of Sri Lankan carved ebony tables of mid nineteenth century
British form whose tops are inlaid with a wide range of tropical woods, could be
interpreted as conform ing to the W est’ s perception of the exotic ‘ other’ and the
perceived abundance o f useful colonial products, namely timber, which were now
available to the colonial power. As Susan Pearce has stated in On Collecting ( 19 9 5 )13,
until recently, collected objects from the Indian subcontinent were the medium through
which notions about Indian culture and the diversity of materials and products of that
culture were transmitted to Europe.
Furniture history is the other key discipline in the development of the interdisciplinary
fram ework to analyse European-style colonial furniture. The means o f furniture
scholarship have remained relatively unchanged since the early part of the twentieth
century. The most important change has not been in relation to the subject matter but in
how that subject matter is studied. Gerald W . R. W ard14 has outlined four fundamental
categories o f evidence in the study o f furniture, namely the study o f the objects
themselves, the study of secondary sources and primary sources relating to the furniture
and contextual information in the form of a comparison with prototypes and parallels
from other countries. He states that such evidence is the grammar on which theoretical
30 NINETEENTH CENTURY CARVED EBONY FURNITURE
studies can be based but concludes that the ‘study of furniture cannot make a distinctive
contribution to history (or any discipline) unless we attempt to understand the furniture
itself.’ 15
In order to interpret the initial stages of the ‘ biography’ or actual production of Sri
Lankan furniture, methods from furniture history have been used, including the
recording and study of inscribed or labelled examples of furniture from the island. This
would include such items of furniture as a carved and inlaid ebony circular centre tabic
with lobed stem, raised on square concave-sided platform base signed, ‘Andres de Costa,
Galle, Ceylon’ .16 A number of related tables arc known, all with similar tops (though
with differing supports) demonstrating the variety of Sri Lankan timber available to
cabinet makers during the nineteenth century. Another table, formerly at the Royal
Commonwealth Society, London is inscribed on an ivory roundel ‘Presented to M rs R B
Tytler by the parents of the Kandy Sunday Scholars with their grateful and affectionate
regards, N ew Years Day, 1 8 3 6 .’ 17 T o date no inscribed carved ebony seating furniture
has been discovered, although there is a strong likelihood in view of the similarity of
construction, ornament, quality of carving and woods used that it may be possible to
localise certain groups of armchairs to Sri Lanka (Fig. z). Large quantities of these
armchairs must have been produced judging by the numbers that survive in British
collections today.18
One of the most striking features of nineteenth century Sri Lankan furniture is the
diversity and beauty o f the indigenous cabinet m aking w ood s. T his diversity is
demonstrated by a Sri Lankan centre table exhibited amongst the other ‘ useful products
of the colony’, at the International Exhibition held in Paris in 1 8 5 5 . A similar table is
illustrated as Figs 3 and 4. The table is briefly described in the Catalogue o f the Natural
and Artificial Products o f Ceylon at the Exhibition.19 Included in this catalogue is a guide
in the form of a ‘list of timbers inlaid in round table, from righthandside’ .20 Some of the
names of the woods are recognisable, despite being transcribed from the vernacular
Sinhalese and are diagnostic of Sri Lankan made furniture, in view of the limited
distribu tio n o f these species o f trees. T h e w o o d s listed in clude, for exam p le,
‘ Calumediriye — Calamander’ , ‘Teakke — Ceylon T eak’, ‘Siyembelan — Tam arind’,
‘N a — Ironwood’, ‘Pol-coconut’ and ‘ Cadoembeiriye — Bastard Ebony’ . Other timbers
were obviously less familiar to the compiler of the catalogue and only an anglicised
version of the vernacular w ord is included, such as the memorable ‘ Pattabely or
BelygoboP and ‘Ratbereliye’ . The ‘large round inlaid table’ was, due to its extended
description, an important attraction at the Ceylon Court of the Paris Exhibition of 1 8 5 5 .
The entry prior to the round table records, ‘ z small ebony tables, inlaid.’21. This may be
of a related form to a table recently in the London trade.22 This table is illustrated as figs
5 and 6. The top of the table is rectangular and is supported on two leaf carved and
incurved scrolling supports raised on a platform base. The feature which distinguishes
this table, apart from the usual arrangement of segmental inlays, is that each timber is
identified in English or vernacular Sinhalese by an engraved ivory plaque around the
edge of the table top, making it an important diagnostic article for the localisation of Sri
Lankan furniture.23
Sri Lankan timber was an abundant resource for exploitation during the nineteenth
century. O f the many books produced to catalogue this resource, including a number
 R O B I \ I ONE S t I

2. Sri Lankan Carved Ebony Armchair, second quarter of the nineteenth century. Height 90cm
; 1 M M I I 1 N I 11 ( I N II RY ( A R \ 1 I) IRONY I L' R N I I L' R R

3. Sri Lankan Carved Ebony and Inlaid Centre Table, of

European form, nineteenth century. Height 77cm ,
diameter 1 1 3 c m
Spink and Son, London

4. Table shown above with top tilted

 K O B IN O N l. s

5. Sri Lankan Carved Ebony and Inlaid Side

Table, of European form, the top with engraved
ivory descriptions of the woods used, nineteenth
century. Height 75cm , width, 80cm, depth 54cm
Spink and Son, London

6. Detail of the top of the side table shown as above

Spink and Son, London

3 4 NINETEENTH CENTURY CARVED EBONY FURNITURE

produced under the aegis of the Indian Forest Department,24 James Sykes Gamble’s A
Manual o f Indian Timbers ( 1 8 8 1 ) 25 is amongst the most useful. Regional furniture
studies have highlighted the importance of historical contextual information relating to
timber and its use in furniture making. Gam ble’s publication intended ‘ to show the
variety and extent of the resources of the Indian forests and the magnitude of the task
which is imposed on the Indian Forest Department in properly managing its splendid
estate for the benefit of the Indian people and the finances of the Indian Empire’ . A
Manual o f Indian Timbers w as intended as a taxonomic guide to timber trees and
included indigenous vernacular w ords for the range o f species, together w ith a
commentary on the physical characteristics of the woods and the uses to which they
were put. For example, under the entry for Chloroxylon Sivietenia 26 or satin wood,
Gamble lists the variety of indigenous Asian words for the wood, including the Sinhalese
description of the wood ‘buruta’ . After describing its features he states, ‘this beautiful
tree gives the satinwood of commerce, which is largely exported from Ceylon, and, to a
much less extent, from India. It is much used for cabinet work . . . and also for pretty
furniture and picture frames . . . In Ceylon it affects the dry regions of the north and
east, the finest forests being those about Puttalam and Batticaloa.’27 The Sinhalese word
‘Nedun’, the only vernacular description for this variety of wood, is recorded by Gamble
under Pericopsis Moonianals (no English equivalent), where he describes it growing in
the ‘moist low country to Ceylon, up to 10 0 0 feet . . .’ . He describes it as ‘a fine wood,
in considerable demand, and much used for furniture (some of which looks very
handsome) carts and other purposes’ . Gamble gives detailed descriptions of the Indian
and Ceylonese genera and species of ebony or ebenaceae, including Diospyros Ebenum f 9
whose Sinhalese name he records as ‘kaluwara’ . Gamble records the wood as growing in
the ‘dry regions of Ceylon, chiefly in the Northern Provinces, but extending to the south­
east round the coast.’ He states, ‘This, the chief ebony-yielding tree, and the only one
giving a black wood without other streaks or markings, is very little cut and exported in
India . . . but in Ceylon it is one of the chief woods’ .
Other sources, which may be used to analyse cabinet making in Sri Lanka during the
nineteenth century include the works of contemporary commentators. These may range
from private letters to published accounts of the island and its people. The former would
include, for example, a letter from Lady Dalhousie30 wife of the Governor General of
India to her daughter, dated 1 8 5 2 where she says, ‘Papa has told me to order any ebony
furniture I may take a fancy to at Galle, they carve very pretty things there.’ A number
of accounts of the island of Ceylon were published during British rule. Amongst them J.
W . Bennett in Ceylon and its Capabilities ( 1 8 4 3 ) 31 gives some insight into the structure
and functioning of cabinet making in Sri Lanka. He states of the Galle craftsmen ‘the
master cabinet makers are generally Portuguese, but the workmen Sinhalese; these make
a very durable and beautiful cabinet furniture of ever)’ description, but they complain
greatly of English tools as being very badly adapted to the hardness of ebony and
satinwood timber’ .32 The complexities of European/Sri Lankan trans cultural contacts
are illustrated in this quotation. Sir J. E. Tennent, describing the state of crafts on the
island of Sri Lanka in Ceylon: An Account o f Island (i8 6 0 )33 includes the following
contextual information on furniture production, ‘but the principal handicrafts — men
are cabinet makers (in Galle), carpenters and carvers in Calamander — wood, ebony and
 ROBIN JONES 3 5

ivory. Their skill in this work is quite remarkable, considering the simplicity of their
implements . .
English language newspapers published in Sri Lanka are a further useful source of
information. For example, The Ceylon Times, 5th February 18 5 0 , in an editorial section
regarding the forthcoming Great Exhibition states, ‘ Like India, Ceylon possesses many
manufactures, which would hold their own with the productions o f more favoured
countries. Her infinity’ of carved wood and manufactures, the beauty’ of the various
specim ens o f inlaid w o rk on w o o d and ivo ry . . . are w ell know n to m a n y .’ 34
Advertisements in The Ceylon Times, and The Colombo Observer give evidence of the
local marker in secondhand Sri Lankan furniture. For example, an advertisement in The
Colombo Observer on Thursday, 18th January 1 8 4 9 35 states ‘Auction sale at Kandy. To
be sold by auction on Saturday, the 20th inst. at Pavilion Street, opposite the church —
household furniture consisting o f ebony and jack w o o d ch airs, tables, couches,
sideboard, table lamps, Almirah, bedstead and bedding . . . J. A. Kwesius, auctioneer’ .
Similarly, The Ceylon Times of 10th November 18 4 6 ^ states, ‘Nuwera Ellia, Sale of
Valuable Household Furniture . . . on the 15th Dec next will be sold by auction the
following property of Captain William Driberg consisting of ebony, calamander, satin,
rose, jackwood couches, Almirahs, tables, chairs, settees, sideboards, large and small
bedsteads, bookends, lamps . . .’ Such advertisements appear with regularity’ in the two
most important newspapers of nineteenth century Sri Lanka and give an indication of
the quantities and types of furniture produced by Sri Lankan cabinet makers at this time.
Editorial comment in The Ceylon Times gives some insights into the cultural interaction
between the British and Sinhalese, reflecting the former’s proscription and defining of
the creative output of the latter, in similar ways to those described by Edward Said.3' An
editorial of the n t h October 18 5 0 , reviewing the objects to be sent from Sri Lanka to
the Great Exhibition states, ‘ in place o f the beautiful furniture made in Ceylon from
calamandcr, ebony and other woods, we noticed a primitive chair about ten inches
square by so many in height, which must afford our English friends but a queer idea of
the state of carpentry in the island.’
Most furniture made in Sri Lanka during the British occupation was intended for local
consumption by officials, planters, merchants and high status Sinhalese. H owever,
evidence of a healthy furniture making industry on the island is shown by the recording
of ‘ cabinet ware ’ in ‘ f/;e Ledgers o f Exports From Colonies — Under Countries'3S and
the recording of the sterling value o f ‘ cabinet ware' from Sri Lanka to Great Britain,
Mauritius, the African ports in the Red Sea, the British and French possessions in India.
For the years so far examined, (between 18 3 9 and 18 4 3 ) exports of Sri Lankan cabinet
ware to Britain and the British possessions in India account for the greater part of these
shipments. These ledgers also give a clear indication of the huge quantity’ of dye and
hardwood, such as ebony, which was exported from Sri Lanka to India, presumably, in
view of its differentiation in the ledgers and its value, this timber was intended, in part,
for the cabinet and wood manufacturing industries of the British possessions in India.
Finally, the documentary sources relating to the design of Sri Lankan furniture in the
nineteenth century demonstrate the complexities of this process. There may be evidence
that British patterns and designs for the decorative arts were circulating prior to 1 8 5 0 on
the island.3* The form or outline of earlv nineteenth centurv Sri Lankan furniture seems
M M I I I N I' ll C l. V I l ' R Y CAR V 1 I) 1 B O N V 11 KNIIIRl

7. Small Sri Lankan Carved Ebony and Inlaid

Hexagonal Topped Table, second quarter of the
nineteenth century. Height 76cm , width 55cm
Spink and Son, London

8. Thomas King, The Modern Style o f Cabinet

Work Exemplified (18 2 9 ), Plate 14 , A work table in
the Grecian style and a work table in the French
style. The latter appears to be a source for the type
of Sri Lankan table illustrated as Fig. 7
 ROBIN JONES 37

to owe much to British designs, which were published during the 18 30 s and 1840s. For
example, certain published prints of furniture in fashionable styles by Thomas King, self-
styled ‘ upholsterer of forty-five years’ experience’ of Lincoln Inn Fields, London seem to
have been the direct source for a group of small Sri Lankan carved ebony and inlaid
hexagonal topped tables (Fig. 7). King’s collection of designs entitled The Modern Style
o f Cabinet Work Exemplified 40 first published in 18 2 9 , shows two work rabies as plate
14 , one in the ‘ Grecian ’, the other in the Trench ’ style (Fig. 8). The work table in the
Trench ’ style would appear to be a model for a group of Sri Lankan tables, all with
hexagonal tops inlaid with segments of different woods, supported on two incurved leaf
and rosette carved C-scroll supports on concave platform base with scrolled feet/1 King’s
design for the Trench ’ work table may have also been the source for the base of the
small rectangular topped table, segmentally inlaid and with engraved ivory key to the
w oods, which was recently in the London trade.42 If the form of some Sri Lankan
furniture derived from British pattern books, the source of the larger part of the carved
and inlaid work would appear to be o f local origin. Ananda Coom araswam y in his
Medieval Sinhalese Art (19 0 8 )43 whilst arguing for the detrimental effect of the west on
the traditional craftsmanship of the island,44 surveys the diversity of craft skills in Sri
Lanka and discusses many of the motifs which are found on Sri Lankan furniture,
including the pala-peti or lotus flower derived ornament, (found as a carved motif to
table edges) and the hatnsa or sacred goose (found as a foot terminal on large centre
tables). He also discusses the vaka deka or double curve, the main decorative motif of
the large circular centre tables. As he states, ‘the first and most thorough part of the
Sinhalese craftsman’s education in design consists in the close study of the ideal curved
form of the vaka deka, or double curve, and from this point — the spiral being evolved
by the reflexion of the simple curve upon itself — he is carried on until he has . . .
command of the curved form . . ,’45 The trans-cultural relationship between Britain and
Sri Lanka during the nineteenth century in terms of furniture design and decoration can
be illustrated by two examples. In order to encourage Sri Lankan manufactures, with the
intention o f representing the best of the island’s products at T h e Exhibition o f the
Works o f Industry o f All Nations'' in 1 8 5 1 , a notice was placed in The Ceylon Times in
18 5 0 “ to seek out the ‘best designs for carving in wood and ivory’ . The conditions for
payment of ‘premiums’ for the best designs illustrate the British desire to encourage the
production of craft objects, which from a European, orientalist perspective, were the
quintessence of Sri Lanka. The notice in The Ceylon Times states that, ‘ 1. The designs
must be the production of natives of Ceylon. 2. The works to be executed must be
ornamented with figures, flowers, fruit and 3., strictly Ceylonese’ . This proscription of
supposedly indigenous or vernacular Sri Lankan decorative forms by the British is
illustrated by an article of furniture made in Sri Lanka and exhibited at the International
Exhibition, London in 18 6 2 . The Catalogue o f the Ceylon Court of that exhibition4' lists
in section II a variety of articles of furniture, such as number 1 3 , ‘a round table of
various woods’ and number 26, ‘a small cocoanut wood cabinet with specimens of the
woods o f Ceylon’. Several items o f furniture at this exhibition were produced by the
Native Industrial School, Colombo, including no 18 , described as a ‘carved Davenport
of fancy w oods’ . This item is given a long descriptive entry in the catalogue45 and
indicates nineteenth century European perceptions of the ideal attributes of Sri Lankan
3 8 NINETEENTH CENTURY CARVED EBONY FURNITURE

design at this time. For instance, the catalogue description reads, ‘the panels are carved
(with) palms and the costumes of the different provinces . . and ‘on the desk and
pillars are carved some of the indigenous plants of the island . . The design for this and
the other items of furniture in the Ceylon court were quite carefully defined from a
European viewpoint. The furniture itself was produced by indigenous Sinhalese furniture
makers using local materials and, at this stage, a mixture of European and indigenous
constructional techniques. A linguistic analogy, suggested by Craig Clunas in an article
entitled D esign and C u ltu ra l F ro n tiers 49 p rovid es a basis to com preh en d the
in terrelation sh ips between the form o f the object and the technical details o f
construction and ornamentation. The interaction between the major and minor features,
on, for example, the circular inlaid tables or the davenport from the Native Industrial
School, could be compared to the ‘ linguistic phenomenon known as creole . . . a
language which takes its morphology from one language and its syntax from another’ .50
H o w far this an alo gy can be fo llo w ed in relation to Eu rop ean style, co lo n ial
manufactured furniture, requires exploration. However, the essential characteristics of
creole: its ability to mix and refashion material from different sources and its robustness
in surviving in a hostile environment51 may be a useful model with which to examine, in
this case, nineteenth century Sr Lankan furniture.
In conclusion, this article has intended to suggest approaches to interpret a particular
category of colonial furniture. It must be stated that present research is at an early stage
and the theoretical framework, outlined in the first part of this paper, requires a further
developm ent. A n y attem pt to understand and an alyse a categ o ry o f furniture
manufactured under the colonial control of another country requires a thorough and
comprehensive study of the objects themselves and their context of production, as
illustrated by relevant prim ary, historical documentation. It is also suggested that
insights can be gained, by not merely focusing on the circumstances of their production,
but by considering their ‘ biography’ or lifespan and the complex web o f cultural
relations betw een colon iser and co lo n ised, w hich led to their p rod uction and
consumption.

A cknow ledgem ents

I would like to thank the following for help with this article: Anne Massey, Simon Ray,
Lamorna Good, Celia Newman, Dreweatt Neate Auctioneers.

REFEREN CES
1. B. D. Cotton ‘ Regional Furniture Studies in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Traditions: An
Introduction to Research Methods’, Regional Furniture 19 8 7 , pp. 1 - 1 8 .
2. Examples include:
R. L. Brohier, Furniture o f the Dutch Period in Ceylon, National Museum of Ceylon, Colombo, 1969.
R. Edwards and K. de Burgh Codrington, ‘The Indian Period of European Furniture’, Apollo, vol. 2 1 , March,
April, June, 19 3 5 and vol. 22, July, 19 3 5 .
R. Edwards and K. de Burgh Codrington, ‘The Indian Period of European Furniture: A Reply to Dr Slomann’
in Burlington Magazine, December, 19 3 4 , pp. 2 3 7 -2 7 9 .
V . Murphy, ‘Art and the East India Trade ( 15 0 0 -18 3 7 ) and some little known ivory furniture’ , Connoisseur,
December, 19 70 , pp. 2 2 9 -2 3 7 .
E. Reimers, ‘ Colonial Dutch Furniture’ , Journal o f the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch), 19 2 9 , X X X I,
no. 9 1 , pp. 1 8 0 - 19 7 .
 ROBIN JONES 3 9
P. V. Slomann, ‘The Indian Period of European Furniture’, The Burlington Magazine, January, 19 3 5 , pp. 2.1-26.
1. Van De Wall, Hct HoIIandsche Koloniale Barokntcttbcl Dcsikkcl, Antwerp, 19 39 .
5. For accounts of Asian textile production see John E. Wills Jr ., ‘ European Consumption and Asian
Production in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries’, in J. H. Brewer and R. Porter, Consumption and the
World o f Goods, London, Routledge, 1993 and D. Miller, Material Culture and Mass Consumption, London,
Routlcdge, 19 S 7 , pp. 1 3 4 -1 4 0 .
4. J. Veenendaal, Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India during the Dutch Period, Volkenkundig
Museum Nusantara, Delft, 19 85.
5. J . Vecnandaal, ibid, p. 129 , and T. Stowell, Race and Culture, N ew York, Basic Books 1994, p. 65.
6. I. Kopytoff, The Cultural Biography o f Things: ‘ Commoditisation as Process’ in A. Appadurai, The Social
Life o f Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 1986.
7. I. Kopytoff, ibid., p. 67.
8. P. Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Vistas — the Expositions Unirerselles, Great Exhibitions and Worlds Fairs,
18 5 1 - / 9 3 9 , Manchester University Press, 19 8S , p. 62.
9. A . Appadurai, op. cit., p. 5.
10. E. Said, Orientalism, London, Penguin Books, 19 78 .
1 1 . J. W. Bennett, Ceylon and its Capabilities, W . H. Allen, London, 18 4 3 India Office Library, W 30 0 5
p. 3 6 1.
12. A. Jackson, ‘Imagining Japan: The Victorian Perception and Acquisition of Japanese Culture’, Journal o f
Design Fiistory, vol. 5, no. 4, 19 9 2 . C. Clunas, ‘ Design and Cultural Frontiers: English Shapes and Chinese
Furniture Workshops, 1 7 0 0 -17 9 0 ’, Apollo, C X X V I, October, 19 8 7 , pp. 2 5 6 -2 6 3 . This article contains useful
perceptions in relation to the interpretation of European style colonial furniture. P. Greenhalgh, Ephemeral
Vistas, op. cit.
13 . S. M . Pearce, On Collecting, in the European Tradition, London, Routledge, 19 9 5 , pp. 3 3 1 .
14. Gerald W . R. Ward, Netr Perspectives on American Furniture, Winterthur, Delaware, published for the
Hcnrv du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1988.
15 . G. W. R. Ward, ibid.
16. Sold Sotheby’s, Chester, lot 20 28, Sth July 19 S7.
17 . T . Falk, ‘ Inlaid and Ebony Furniture from British India’, Orientations, 19 86 , Vol 17 , 3, p. 55. The table
was sold from the collection at Commonwealth House by the auctioneers, Tilleke Vigor in M ay 19 9 2 and was
subsequently offered for sale at Sotheby’s, London, 9th July, 19 9 3 as lot 287.
iS . For example Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd, and Kingston Lacs-, Dorset.
19. Paris International Exhibition, Catalogue o f the Natural and Artificial Products o f Ceylon . . . iSyy,
p. 26, ‘A large round inlaid table'. National A n Library (N.A.L.) A 2 2 (19).
20. The full list of timbers is described as follows:
‘ 1. Pol — coconut
2. Kahattc
3. Calumcdiriye — Calamander
4. Teakke — Ceylon Teak
5. Petan
6. Tal — Palmira
7. Pattabely or Belygobol
8. Calumcdiriyc — Calamander
9. Wclicaha
10. Arrcmcne
1 1 . Cadocmbeirye — Bastard Ebony
12 . Patengy — Sappan
13 . Wirancaluvcrc — coloured ebony
14 . Diyenaw — Ironwood
15 . Sooriye — Persian
16. Ukbeiriyc
17 . Burutc — Satin
18. Hoamcdiriyc
19. Nendoon — Dalbergia
20. Gerictte
2 1. Kittool — Nepcra
22. Bely — Bengal Quince
25. Siyambclan — Tamarind
24. Dombe
25. Beetc — Bombay Blackwood
4 0 NINETEENTH CENTURY CARVED EBONY FURNITURE
2.6. Sooriye Mauran
27. N a — Ironwood
28. Hoamediriye
29. Mannan
30. Ratbereliye
2 1. Catalogue o f the Natural and Artificial Products o f Ceylon . . . . 18 5 5 , op. cit., p. 26.
22. Spink and Sons, St. James, London, table exhibited at Grosvcnor House Fair, June 1994.
23. The full list of woods is described as follows:
‘obberiye, calamender, dombe, ironwood, woalpaidd, pamboroo, hicklec, satin, homadcriye, aremana. sooriyc,
madeye, mara, coefee, porrowemal, nadoon, cocoanut, cadoonbariyc, manale, wood apple, paten, naillce,
ebony, mille, palmyra, chombe, kahate, coan, tamering, wanciddcle’.
24. For example, R. H. Beddome, The Flora Sylratica for Southern India: containing . . . the principal timber
trees o f Southern India and Ceylon . . . , Madras, Gantz Bros 18 6 9 -7 4 .
M . Mendis, Timber Trees o f Ceylon . . ., Colombo, 18 8 1.
J. de C. Sowerby ( 1 7 8 7 - 1 8 7 1 ) , Some Ceylon Fodder Bearing Trees, n.d.
25. J. S. Gamble, A Manual o f Indian Timbers: an account o f the growth, distribution and uses o f the trees
and shrubs o f India and Ceylon . . . ’ , 1 8 8 1 , Calcutta, 2nd cd. 1902.
26. J. S. Gamble, p. 160, 2 1 Cbloroxylon D C, (18 8 1).
27. J. S. Gamble, ibid p. 1 6 1.
28. J. S. Gamble, ibid p. 265.
29. J. S. Gamble, ibid p. 456.
30. Quoted in footnote, Sotheby’s House Sale, Colstoun, Haddington, 2 1 M ay 1990 lot 75.
3 1 . Quoted in A. K. Coomaraswamy, Medieval Singalese Art, Broad Campden, 1908, p. 13 8 , N A L 4 G 14.
32. J. W . Bennett op. cit. p. 7 6 1.
33. Sir J. E. Tennent, Ceylon: an account o f the island physical, historical and topographical, London, i860,
N A L 4 .E .15 , 16. Quoted by J. Veenendaal, op. cit., p. 13 8 .
34. The Ceylon Times, 5th February, 18 30 , p. 76 , Public Record Office, PRO CO 59/5.
35. The Colombo Observer, 18 49 PRO C O 59 /21.
36. The Ceylon Times, 1846 PRO CO 59/3.
37. E. Said, op. cit.
38. Ledgers o f exports from Colonies, PRO C U S T 12.
39. The Ceylon Times, 15 December 1846. Advertisement for Hider Sc Co., coachbuilders and cabinetmakers,
Madras ‘Hider and Co are . . . completing several couches and chairs o f elegant designs comprising the recent
prevailing fashions in England'. PRO CO 59/3.
40. Thomas King, The Modern Style o f Cabinet Work Exemplified in New Designs and Practically Arranged,
18 2 9 , 2nd edition 18 39 , reissued 18 6 2 , second edition of 18 39 , N .A .L., 57.C .2.
4 1 . For examples of similar tables, see Sotheby’s, London sales of English Furniture 1 1 July 19 8 6 , 20
February 19 8 7 , 14 November and lots 16 6 and 16 7, 1 M ay 19 87.
42. Spink and Sons Ltd., St. James’s London, table exhibited at Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, June 19 94.
43. A. K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit.
44. Jonathan Spencer, ‘ Occidentalism in the East: the uses of the west in the politics and anthropology of
South Asia’, in Occidentalism: images o f the west, (ed.) J. Carrier, Oxford University Press 19 9 5 . Spencer
relates Coonmaraswamy’s work to western views on alienated labour, the rupture of art from labour and the
influence of William Morris on whose Kelmscott Press Coomaraswamy’s book was published.
45. A. K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 104.
46. The Ceylon Times, 2nd April, 18 50 , p. 20 3, PRO CO 59/5.
47. International Exhibition, London, 18 6 2 , — Catalogue o f the Ceylon Court, N A L A 16 (16).
48. The davenport is described as follows:
‘ Contributions from the Native Industrial School, Colombo.
365. A carved davenport, of ebony, the drawers on one side are specimens of the best plain Ceylon woods,
viz., satinwood, jackwood, nedoon, and plain tamarind wood; on the other side they are of variegated woods,
viz, variegated tamarind, kadoomberiya, calamander and variegated ebony. The mountings in the drawers and
desks are all of solid silver. On the panels are carved the palms and the costumes of the different provinces,
and they are surrounded with the leaves and pods of the tamarind. On the desk and the pillars are carved some
of the indigenous plants of the Island, among which are the gloriosa superba, the pitcher plant and some ferns.
On the openwork carving on the rail at the top of the desk are carved a sprig of coffee and one of cinnamon,
crossing each other, with a sprig of nutmeg and one of cloves on either side; a pepper plant in each comer, the
whole surrounded with a vanilla plant. On the tops of the pillars are fruits carved in relief, consisting of
cashew, apple and nut, the goreka, the custard apple, the nutmeg, the flower and fruit of the pomegranate, and
a species of rough lime.’
 ROBIN JONES 41

49. C . Clunas, Design and Cultural Frontiers: English shapes and Chinese furniture workshops 1700-90,
Apollo, October, 19 S 7 , pp. 2.56-2.63.
50. C . Clunas, Design and Cultural Frontiers . . ., ibid, p. 2 6 1.
5 1 . I. R. Smith in Journal o f Pidgin and Creole Languages, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 2 9 1 -2 9 6 , 19 93 review of K. D.
Jackson, Sing without Shame: oral traditions in Indo-Portugucse Creole verse with transcription and analysis
o f a nineteenth century manuscript o f Ceylon Portuguese, Amsterdam, 1990.