Banner
2004 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This large banner was made in the batik technique at the studio of Ena de Silva in Sri Lanka. It is part of a set of exact replicas of the 14 batik banners made by da Silva for the Sri Lankan parliament building in 1980. The original set was commissioned by the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, the architect of the parliament building. The originals became worn and were removed from the building: this piece, and the others in the set, was made using the original stencils as a replacement and were used in an exhibition curated by Dr David Thompson, from whom the V&A later acquired this piece.
The design shows Vishvakarma, the god of craftsmen, Hanuman carrying the mountain of healing herbs (from the Ramayana epic) and at the bottom, some Sri Lankan metal-workers.
The design shows Vishvakarma, the god of craftsmen, Hanuman carrying the mountain of healing herbs (from the Ramayana epic) and at the bottom, some Sri Lankan metal-workers.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Batik on cotton |
| Brief description | Batik banner showing Hanuman, Vishvakarma and scenes of metalworking, designed by Anil Jayasuriya and made by Aluwihare Workshops for Ena de Silva, Sri Lanka, 2004 |
| Physical description | A long rectangular banner of batik on canvas showing Hanuman in the centre carrying the mountain of herbs. Beneath him are scenes of metalworking and above him is Vishvakarma, the divine craftsman, and a flaming sun. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | small batch |
| Object history | This banner and five others were made in 2004 as copies of the originals made by Ena de Silva in 1980 to hang in front of the Sri Lankan parliament building, designed by Geoffrey Bawa. The original set of 14 banners was replaced in the late 1990s. The 6 new banners were made for an exhibition on Geoffrey Bawa held at the German Architectural Museum in Frankfurt, at the behest of Prof. David Robson, the curator of the exhibition. They were made using the original designs done by Anil Jayasuriya, and the same techniques as the originals. The V&A bought this example from David Robson in 2008. |
| Production | Designed by Ena de Silva's son Anil Jayasuriya and made at her Aluwihare Workshops near Matale. The elements of the design (Hanuman, Vishvakarma, the sun and the artisans below) seem to be based on an illustration of a banner in E.W.Perera's book 'Sinhalese Banners and Standards' (Colombo, 1916), plate 1. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This large banner was made in the batik technique at the studio of Ena de Silva in Sri Lanka. It is part of a set of exact replicas of the 14 batik banners made by da Silva for the Sri Lankan parliament building in 1980. The original set was commissioned by the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, the architect of the parliament building. The originals became worn and were removed from the building: this piece, and the others in the set, was made using the original stencils as a replacement and were used in an exhibition curated by Dr David Thompson, from whom the V&A later acquired this piece. The design shows Vishvakarma, the god of craftsmen, Hanuman carrying the mountain of healing herbs (from the Ramayana epic) and at the bottom, some Sri Lankan metal-workers. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.1-2008 |
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| Record created | January 10, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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