No. 57.— 1906.] 



SINHALESE ART. 



s7 



Kandyan art to be regarded as actual representations of those 

 plants. 



There is, however, one plant ornament of indigenous origin 

 exclusively Indian, if not purely Sinhalese ; I refer to the 

 bo-leaf and the innumerable different representations of it, 

 a full account of which would alone fill many pages. The 

 outline of the Kandyan eaves-tile shown on Plate II. affords 

 an example of it. This ornament must have come into use 

 after the time of Buddha, and in connection with Buddhism 

 only ; and as it is not found at Bharhut it may very possibly 

 be purely Sinhalese in origin. 



Of other forms the paldpeti pattern (lotus, or water-leaf 

 pattern) may be mentioned ; here we have a spatulate leaf 

 alternating with a more pointed and narrower element. This 

 form is clearly derived from the lotus petals of medallions, 

 and is thus not strictly a cone and flower form, though re- 

 minding us of the classical " egg and tongue " and " tongue and 

 dart " forms which Sir George Birdwood considers belong to 

 the knop and flower type ; it may be however that they also 

 are derived from lotus petals. An example of paldpeti is 

 seen in Plate I., fig. 3 F. 



This brings me to the end of the list of definite survivals 

 from the early art of Northern India which I think I have been 

 able to trace in Kandyan art, and though I am fully aware 

 that the subject is only superficially dealt with, still the Paper 

 now written may be the means of awakening further interest 

 in the important question of the origin of some of the patterns 

 surviving in Sinhalese and especially Kandyan art. 



My object in bringing the matter forward now is to provoke 

 discussion and invite criticism, and also to demonstrate the 

 historical value cf the study of Sinhalese art and the impor- 

 tance of carefully preserving its remains, as much from the 

 intellectual as from the artistic point of view. 



Perhaps before summarizing my remarks it should be 

 pointed out that I have only referred to the history of patterns 

 derived from plant forms : the simple geometrical elements 



