Xo. 58. — 



1907.] 



NOTES ON CEYLON PAINTING. &C. 



109 



Now the cloth is allowed to boil in it for about two or three 

 hours at the same heat. It is taken out. dried in the shade, 

 washed in cold water, and dried again. A second caldron or 

 vessel is also made ready in a similar way, but in this case the 



heat of the water is increased to about 145° F A third 



caldron is also so made ready and the process repeated, but in 

 this case the heat is increased to about 180° or 190° F. This 

 heat melts the wax on the cloth. Some dyers who believe in 

 doing things on the cheap try the third process directly without 

 going through the former two. This does not give the en- 

 during power to the cloth, nor is the colouring fast . . . . The 

 colour thus produced is called mantaliniram" If alum be 

 mixed with the chaya root, a dark reddish colour is produced ; 

 " this colour may also be obtained by soaking the cloth first 

 in a mixture of water with gallnut powder, and then, after 

 drying, in a mixture of water with alum." 



The dyes used in combination with chaya root to produce 

 black or red lines are called Tear am and are prepared thus : for 

 black, " about 2 ounces of alum and 1 lb. of iron filings or rust 

 are put into a vessel containing about a quart of water and are 

 left to lie for two or three days until the water grows dark. 

 If it is not dark enough, some more iron is put in ; for red, 

 the karam is prepared without iron, and the cloth is previously 

 soaked in a mixture of gallnut powder and water : or for 

 black, iron put into the water of a young coconut, in the 

 proportion of about a pound to a quart may be used, and forms 

 an indelible black if used on a cloth previously soaked in gall- 

 nut water ; while for red a 10 per cent, solution of alum may be 

 used on a cloth previously soaked in gallnut water. The parts 

 to be so coloured are painted with the karam previous to the 

 general dyeing with chaya root , the parts to be white remaining 

 protected by beeswax throughout. 



This art of dye painting on cloth is a very ancient one ; 

 the old Kandyan flags and Dewala hangings used to be so 

 done, almost certainly by Tamil workmen. Painted cloths 

 are still made in Jaffna for the Sinhalese market. The 



