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Column

ca. 17th century (made)

Pillar or column (kapa) of carved teak.


Object details

Object type
Column
Materials and techniques
Carved teak
Brief description
Column or pillar, decorated with tassle & loop; Architecture, teak, carved, Kandy Sri Lanka, cC17
Physical description
Pillar or column (kapa) of carved teak.
Dimensions
  • 77th height: in (Note: greatest)
  • 8.75 width: in
Credit line
Purchased from Colonel A.L. Caldwell
Object history
Discovered about 1890 near the Adahana Maluva Vihara in Kandy, on the traditional site of a pavilion in which bodies of several kings of Kandy, Ceylon, were prepared for cremation. Sinhalese; probably 17th century. This was one of four columns purchased by Colonel A.L. Caldwell in 1897. Caldwell reported in 1906 that there had originally been 12 columns supporting the pavilion but that the remainder were either destroyed by white ants or were being chopped up for firewood.
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
266-1906

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O471935/column/
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