There is visual music in how the line turns to a curve and the curve opens back to a line as naturally and as gracefully as a creeper would embrace a tree, or a dancer would move her limbs. There is a highly functional form of poetry in objects that carefully follow the rise and fall of the human body—proportions that would always remain sensual to us.
This kind of highly sensual proportions was the hallmark of medieval Sri Lankan brass work—particularly in objects hand cast for devotional rituals, bathing or holding drinking water.
This antique brass vessel maintains the highly sensual proportions true to traditional medieval Sri Lankan art. Discovered in a private Colombo collection, we had to convince the owner to sell it to us despite the pot having a small puncture. She asked us if we know how hard it is to find pots like this with highly accented medieval proportions. It’s approximately hundred to hundred-and-twenty years old and has been made in the Pilimathalawa area known for its long history in brass casting and carving. The slight neck and the wide pot with voluptuous curves carry through that striking visual quality of medieval brass statues and art. It reminds us of the iconic Sri Lankan brass statue at the British Museum—Tara.
H 9" x W 10"
Tara: antique brass vessel
H 9" x W 10"