traditional handicraft
SRI LANKAN HANDICRAFTS
The history of Sri Lanka handicrafts runs to pre-history and its production with the exception of Jewellery is essentially a cottage industry: products are turned out making use of natural raw materials by means of time tested age-old techniques. The traditional skills have been preserved with its purity, resulting in the continuance of characteristic identity of Sri Lanka Handicrafts.
Sri Lanka’s ancient social system having its Indo-Aryan roots has been largely instrumental in preserving traditional skills with its characteristic identity; certain arts and crafts were assigned to defined socio-occupational groups. Sri Lanka’s wide variety of very attractive handicrafts can be found throughout the Island in shops, street stalls and government-run stores. Ivory and tortoise shell handicrafts once sold at large are no longer legal in Sri Lanka.
Pottery
Pottery is one of the oldest handicrafts in Sri Lanka. The primarily useful character of Sri Lankan pottery has been continuing to exist since the very beginning of Sinhala civilization. The simplicity of ornamentation and charm of the elegance of pottery have held fast in the Island since pre-history. Pots are made of clay. Pottery is a living craft that relates very much to the life of Sri Lanka. Small votive lamps, graceful water jugs, decorative ornaments and various cooking vessels of clay are very popular.
Even though there are many new ideas in this field many potters. Still employ traditional methods are made on rotations disk that the pottery keeps turning. It’s called a potter’s wheel. It is a fast turning wheel. A lump of clay is placed on this wheel and then the potter forms a pot by turning the lumps of clay. Decoration to the pot is done by incising patterns or stamping with dyes while the clay is still wet. Most pots are fired in a primitive kiln built of bricks or stones. It is covered with a wattle and daub roof. Pottery is now used mostly for decoration. Saucepans have replaced the clay pot in most homes.
Sri Lanka pottery is turned out by means of a small wheel being turned by the potter while shaping the lump of clay with hands and then oven-hardened in a traditional kiln built of brick. The major quantity of the products is plain utensils devoid of decoration. With the demand for decorated pottery being on the rise, dying the wet clay in patterns and glazing are now introduced.
Wood Carving
Handicraft of woodcarving in Sri Lanka has a long history. The tradition of woodcarving in Sri Lanka is visible at Lankatilaka Temple and Ambakka Devale at Kandy. At these temples, miniature replicas of the low-relief wood carving done by the traditional woodcarvers can be bought at fair prices. The three dimensional carvings of ebony Elephants, Buddha are popular in Sri Lanka. Wood-carved decorative panels are used widely in Sri Lanka in the trade of interior decoration too.
A wide range of handicraft items made of wood combine utility and beauty adding elegance to your lifestyle, such as wall hangings, fancy jewellery, figurines, sculpture, lacquer products, gift boxes, toys, educational items for pre-school children, household items are some of the woodcraft items produced in Sri Lanka.
Metal Works
Sri Lanka has a long tradition in metalwork. Metal work is produced with the whole range of metals and alloys in Sri Lanka: gold, silver, brass, tin, lead and iron, as well as their various alloys, in all sorts of work ranging from ornamental casting and pierced designs. Handicrafts of damascene- decorating metal such as iron or steel with wavy patterns of etching or inlays of precious metals and filigree-delicate decorative openwork made from thin precious metal twisted wire are produced in Sri Lanka in traditional techniques.
Brassware
Brassware is produced in two main techniques: wrought and cast.
Bowls, tea services, trays, and ornamental ware as well as decorative ware are produced in wrought technique.
Brass Castings
Coconut oil lamps, pots, bowls, vases, wall plaques, trinket boxes and other household utensils are made with cast technique. Brass Castings are done by the “lost wax” method: the model is sculpted in wax, covered with clay, and baked so that the wax is melted out leaving the mould made of clay. Then the clay mould is poured with the molten Brass. The casting technique produces fine Brassware of elephants, Buddha images, bowls, lamps and candlesticks.
To make these products even more attractive, local craftsmen engrave the brassware with natural style motifs such as flowers, leaves, fruits and even sceneries. Silverware, like Brassware is a specialty of the Kandyan provinces. Ornately carved and filigree jewellery, trays, trinket boxes, tea-sets, candle-stands, cutlery and ash-trays.
Metal Cutwork
Handicraft of metal cutwork involves cutting the design onto a flat sheet of metal first and embellishing the work by engraving, hatching or Repose secondly. This method is adopted mainly in production of metalwork such as trays and plaques. In Repose method, the desired pattern is hammered in on the reverse side so that the relief carvings emerge on the front side. Repose metalwork is the most characteristic type of Sri Lankan metalwork. This method is applied on brass, copper, silver, or all three together to create a variety of traditional designs.
Lacquer Works
Lacquer work is Sri Lanka handicraft is from the Kandyan provinces. Lac is a resin secreted from the bark of certain trees that have been infested with the Lac beetle. The resin is scraped from the bark, melted and strained. While the Lac is soft, pigment is beaten in to produce the desired colour and left to dry. Lac is applied in two different techniques. The method called spool-work is practiced with applying a stick of Lac to the object fixed onto a spindle of a lathe machine. The resulting friction caused by the revolving objects melts the Lac making it seep into the grain making a glossy coating on the object. Ornaments, walking sticks, book-ends, ash trays letter-openers, wooden handles etc are decorated with Lacquer work. The method called nail work is practiced by using a thumbnail to fashion the thread of Lac. In addition to these traditional methods, today, Lacquer work is produced by an inferior method: painting the object and then covering it with layers of varnish.
Sri Lankan Batiks
Batik is of Indonesian roots, yet in Sri Lanka, the craft has developed into a unique style to produce shirts, sarongs, dresses, shorts, wall hangings, cushions covers, bed hangers and a multitude of décor items. Batik handicraft products are of distinctive designs in vibrant colors. The time consuming technique in producing high quality Batik involves multiple waxing and dyeing of cloth on which the design is done. In the end all wax is scraped out and then boiled. The cloth is made to absorb colors of the dyes further by the use of Hydrochloric Acid. Drying in the sun brightens up the colors. The number of colors in batik is the precise indication of the number of times it was immersed in the dye bath and application and removal of wax. That is to say a multicoloured design of Batik involves a great deal of work than a Batik design in just a couple of colors.
Today, since chemical dyes too have come into the equation in addition to the traditional dyes, the spectrum of colors in Batik seems to have become endless. Originally a cottage industry, today manufacture of Batik products is done at workshop level in the South-western coastal areas of as well as the Central area of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Handloom Textiles
Handloom textiles are produced in Sri Lanka within the confines of a small-scale industry that generate employment to rural women. Among the Handloom textiles produced are household linen such as bedclothes and towels, upholstery materials, furnishing materials such as curtaining, cushions covers, saris and sarongs. Books, notebooks, albums, and even writing pads are now clothed with this handcrafted material of textile. The handloom woven cotton and silk textiles of vibrant colors have been popular among the locals as well as the tourists.
The combination of traditional designs blended with modern trends in modern material woven in new processing techniques has made export quality Sri Lanka Handlooms access the competitive international market.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman and Chief Executive Janaka Ratanayaka said Sri Lanka is capable of producing various handloom textile products to foreign markets. There is an increasing demand for Sri Lankan handloom textile products in foreign countries. Italy, Germany, France, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Maldives and Thailand are the main export markets for Sri Lankan handloom textile products.
Sri Lanka exports curtaining, table linen, bed linen, kitchen linen, upholstery and dress fabric and other products to foreign markets. The products in demand in the local market are curtaining, table linen, bed linen furnishing, cushion covers, sarongs and sarees. Currently, cotton and silk yarn is imported from India and Korea, monthly. Around 900 private handloom producers inclusive of small, medium and large-scale are operating in the country.
The handloom textile industry is a highly labour intensive, export oriented rural based industry. However, lack of weavers and the high production cost has hampered the growth of the industry considerably. There is a slight decrease in the current workforce in the industry as it is labour intensive. There were around 15,000 working in the industry five years back.
Mat weaving in Sri Lanka
Since the ancient times, Mat weaving used to be practiced by rural women at home while their husbands were away at work in paddy fields or Chena cultivation in Sri Lanka. Today, mat weaving is a popular cottage industry with established sales outlets around Sri Lanka. A fibre similar to Jute extracted from the leaves of Hana – a hemp grown wild in the marshy lands of Sri Lanka is processed, dyed and woven in patterns. The modern Mat weaving craftsmen in Sri Lanka, to keep up with contemporary requirements, have introduced innovations in producing cushion covers, hand bags, shopping bags, letter holders, fans, screens etc. For centuries, Dumbara valley of the Kandy district has been famous for its production of mats with Distinctive design and colour schemes.
Reed and rush ware in Sri Lanka
Reed and rush ware products are made of materials processed of talipot or thalakola, coconut and palmyrah leaves, cane and bamboo. Among the handcrafted products are table mats, cane furniture, mats, bags, purses, baskets, hats, boxes, lamp shades, kitchen and household articles and screens.
Sri Lankan Jewellery
Sri Lanka’s Jewellery is of superior craftsmanship that competes on the international level bringing in foreign revenue into the country. Sri Lanka has two traditions in designing jewellery: Galle Low Country Traditional also called Western Traditional and Kandyan traditional. The Galle tradition features gold and precious stones while the Kandyan tradition features intricate metal work especially in silver. The tourists from the western countries, Japan and Russia find Galle Low Country Traditional to their great liking.
Lace making in Sri Lanka
Lace making is not an indigenous art that was pioneered by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It began in the South-western coastal areas, especially around Galle and was practiced by the Dutch ladies during the Dutch colonial era. Later the Sinhalese ladies caught on Lace making and established a handicraft in south western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. During the 19th century, when Galle sea-port was in its heyday, lace products of the South-western coastal belt arose to outstanding heights in popularity. Today lace making is continued mainly by the Sinhalese ladies who inherited the handicraft from their ancestors.
Along Galle, Weligama coastal areas the ladies are seen engaged in lace making-crochet and tatting-in the verandahs of their houses. Among the range of products made with lace making are blouses, table linen, curtains, bed spreads and pillows.
Wooden Masks in Sri Lanka
Wooden Masks are produced mainly in the South western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Of all the areas of the South-western coastal belt, the city of Ambalangoda has a long heritage in the specialized handicraft of producing Wooden Masks in a wide range of sizes in vibrant colors are made of the timber of a tree locally called ‘Kaduru” a tree that grows in marshy lands bordering paddy fields is light and soft making it an ideal material to turn out wooden masks. The technique of producing masks has been passed from generation to generation from the ancient times. The logs of Kaduru are dried in the hard tropical sun till the sticky juice of the timber is evaporated and then cut into pieces of the required sizes.
Then the basic shape of the mask is fashioned by means of chisels and mallets out of the cut piece of the log accordingly to the measurements given in ancient recorded instructions. Seasoning of the timber follows, with smoking for six or seven day in a hearth. The seasoned piece of timber is carved, smoothened and painted. The Wooden masks, each with its distinctive features and colors, are carved to depict gods, humans, demons and beasts.
The history of Sri Lanka handicrafts runs to pre-history and its production with the exception of Jewellery is essentially a cottage industry: products are turned out making use of natural raw materials by means of time tested age-old techniques. The traditional skills have been preserved with its purity, resulting in the continuance of characteristic identity of Sri Lanka Handicrafts.
Sri Lanka’s ancient social system having its Indo-Aryan roots has been largely instrumental in preserving traditional skills with its characteristic identity; certain arts and crafts were assigned to defined socio-occupational groups. Sri Lanka’s wide variety of very attractive handicrafts can be found throughout the Island in shops, street stalls and government-run stores. Ivory and tortoise shell handicrafts once sold at large are no longer legal in Sri Lanka.
Pottery
Pottery is one of the oldest handicrafts in Sri Lanka. The primarily useful character of Sri Lankan pottery has been continuing to exist since the very beginning of Sinhala civilization. The simplicity of ornamentation and charm of the elegance of pottery have held fast in the Island since pre-history. Pots are made of clay. Pottery is a living craft that relates very much to the life of Sri Lanka. Small votive lamps, graceful water jugs, decorative ornaments and various cooking vessels of clay are very popular.
Even though there are many new ideas in this field many potters. Still employ traditional methods are made on rotations disk that the pottery keeps turning. It’s called a potter’s wheel. It is a fast turning wheel. A lump of clay is placed on this wheel and then the potter forms a pot by turning the lumps of clay. Decoration to the pot is done by incising patterns or stamping with dyes while the clay is still wet. Most pots are fired in a primitive kiln built of bricks or stones. It is covered with a wattle and daub roof. Pottery is now used mostly for decoration. Saucepans have replaced the clay pot in most homes.
Sri Lanka pottery is turned out by means of a small wheel being turned by the potter while shaping the lump of clay with hands and then oven-hardened in a traditional kiln built of brick. The major quantity of the products is plain utensils devoid of decoration. With the demand for decorated pottery being on the rise, dying the wet clay in patterns and glazing are now introduced.
Wood Carving
Handicraft of woodcarving in Sri Lanka has a long history. The tradition of woodcarving in Sri Lanka is visible at Lankatilaka Temple and Ambakka Devale at Kandy. At these temples, miniature replicas of the low-relief wood carving done by the traditional woodcarvers can be bought at fair prices. The three dimensional carvings of ebony Elephants, Buddha are popular in Sri Lanka. Wood-carved decorative panels are used widely in Sri Lanka in the trade of interior decoration too.
A wide range of handicraft items made of wood combine utility and beauty adding elegance to your lifestyle, such as wall hangings, fancy jewellery, figurines, sculpture, lacquer products, gift boxes, toys, educational items for pre-school children, household items are some of the woodcraft items produced in Sri Lanka.
Metal Works
Sri Lanka has a long tradition in metalwork. Metal work is produced with the whole range of metals and alloys in Sri Lanka: gold, silver, brass, tin, lead and iron, as well as their various alloys, in all sorts of work ranging from ornamental casting and pierced designs. Handicrafts of damascene- decorating metal such as iron or steel with wavy patterns of etching or inlays of precious metals and filigree-delicate decorative openwork made from thin precious metal twisted wire are produced in Sri Lanka in traditional techniques.
Brassware
Brassware is produced in two main techniques: wrought and cast.
Bowls, tea services, trays, and ornamental ware as well as decorative ware are produced in wrought technique.
Brass Castings
Coconut oil lamps, pots, bowls, vases, wall plaques, trinket boxes and other household utensils are made with cast technique. Brass Castings are done by the “lost wax” method: the model is sculpted in wax, covered with clay, and baked so that the wax is melted out leaving the mould made of clay. Then the clay mould is poured with the molten Brass. The casting technique produces fine Brassware of elephants, Buddha images, bowls, lamps and candlesticks.
To make these products even more attractive, local craftsmen engrave the brassware with natural style motifs such as flowers, leaves, fruits and even sceneries. Silverware, like Brassware is a specialty of the Kandyan provinces. Ornately carved and filigree jewellery, trays, trinket boxes, tea-sets, candle-stands, cutlery and ash-trays.
Metal Cutwork
Handicraft of metal cutwork involves cutting the design onto a flat sheet of metal first and embellishing the work by engraving, hatching or Repose secondly. This method is adopted mainly in production of metalwork such as trays and plaques. In Repose method, the desired pattern is hammered in on the reverse side so that the relief carvings emerge on the front side. Repose metalwork is the most characteristic type of Sri Lankan metalwork. This method is applied on brass, copper, silver, or all three together to create a variety of traditional designs.
Lacquer Works
Lacquer work is Sri Lanka handicraft is from the Kandyan provinces. Lac is a resin secreted from the bark of certain trees that have been infested with the Lac beetle. The resin is scraped from the bark, melted and strained. While the Lac is soft, pigment is beaten in to produce the desired colour and left to dry. Lac is applied in two different techniques. The method called spool-work is practiced with applying a stick of Lac to the object fixed onto a spindle of a lathe machine. The resulting friction caused by the revolving objects melts the Lac making it seep into the grain making a glossy coating on the object. Ornaments, walking sticks, book-ends, ash trays letter-openers, wooden handles etc are decorated with Lacquer work. The method called nail work is practiced by using a thumbnail to fashion the thread of Lac. In addition to these traditional methods, today, Lacquer work is produced by an inferior method: painting the object and then covering it with layers of varnish.
Sri Lankan Batiks
Batik is of Indonesian roots, yet in Sri Lanka, the craft has developed into a unique style to produce shirts, sarongs, dresses, shorts, wall hangings, cushions covers, bed hangers and a multitude of décor items. Batik handicraft products are of distinctive designs in vibrant colors. The time consuming technique in producing high quality Batik involves multiple waxing and dyeing of cloth on which the design is done. In the end all wax is scraped out and then boiled. The cloth is made to absorb colors of the dyes further by the use of Hydrochloric Acid. Drying in the sun brightens up the colors. The number of colors in batik is the precise indication of the number of times it was immersed in the dye bath and application and removal of wax. That is to say a multicoloured design of Batik involves a great deal of work than a Batik design in just a couple of colors.
Today, since chemical dyes too have come into the equation in addition to the traditional dyes, the spectrum of colors in Batik seems to have become endless. Originally a cottage industry, today manufacture of Batik products is done at workshop level in the South-western coastal areas of as well as the Central area of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Handloom Textiles
Handloom textiles are produced in Sri Lanka within the confines of a small-scale industry that generate employment to rural women. Among the Handloom textiles produced are household linen such as bedclothes and towels, upholstery materials, furnishing materials such as curtaining, cushions covers, saris and sarongs. Books, notebooks, albums, and even writing pads are now clothed with this handcrafted material of textile. The handloom woven cotton and silk textiles of vibrant colors have been popular among the locals as well as the tourists.
The combination of traditional designs blended with modern trends in modern material woven in new processing techniques has made export quality Sri Lanka Handlooms access the competitive international market.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman and Chief Executive Janaka Ratanayaka said Sri Lanka is capable of producing various handloom textile products to foreign markets. There is an increasing demand for Sri Lankan handloom textile products in foreign countries. Italy, Germany, France, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Maldives and Thailand are the main export markets for Sri Lankan handloom textile products.
Sri Lanka exports curtaining, table linen, bed linen, kitchen linen, upholstery and dress fabric and other products to foreign markets. The products in demand in the local market are curtaining, table linen, bed linen furnishing, cushion covers, sarongs and sarees. Currently, cotton and silk yarn is imported from India and Korea, monthly. Around 900 private handloom producers inclusive of small, medium and large-scale are operating in the country.
The handloom textile industry is a highly labour intensive, export oriented rural based industry. However, lack of weavers and the high production cost has hampered the growth of the industry considerably. There is a slight decrease in the current workforce in the industry as it is labour intensive. There were around 15,000 working in the industry five years back.
Mat weaving in Sri Lanka
Since the ancient times, Mat weaving used to be practiced by rural women at home while their husbands were away at work in paddy fields or Chena cultivation in Sri Lanka. Today, mat weaving is a popular cottage industry with established sales outlets around Sri Lanka. A fibre similar to Jute extracted from the leaves of Hana – a hemp grown wild in the marshy lands of Sri Lanka is processed, dyed and woven in patterns. The modern Mat weaving craftsmen in Sri Lanka, to keep up with contemporary requirements, have introduced innovations in producing cushion covers, hand bags, shopping bags, letter holders, fans, screens etc. For centuries, Dumbara valley of the Kandy district has been famous for its production of mats with Distinctive design and colour schemes.
Reed and rush ware in Sri Lanka
Reed and rush ware products are made of materials processed of talipot or thalakola, coconut and palmyrah leaves, cane and bamboo. Among the handcrafted products are table mats, cane furniture, mats, bags, purses, baskets, hats, boxes, lamp shades, kitchen and household articles and screens.
Sri Lankan Jewellery
Sri Lanka’s Jewellery is of superior craftsmanship that competes on the international level bringing in foreign revenue into the country. Sri Lanka has two traditions in designing jewellery: Galle Low Country Traditional also called Western Traditional and Kandyan traditional. The Galle tradition features gold and precious stones while the Kandyan tradition features intricate metal work especially in silver. The tourists from the western countries, Japan and Russia find Galle Low Country Traditional to their great liking.
Lace making in Sri Lanka
Lace making is not an indigenous art that was pioneered by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It began in the South-western coastal areas, especially around Galle and was practiced by the Dutch ladies during the Dutch colonial era. Later the Sinhalese ladies caught on Lace making and established a handicraft in south western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. During the 19th century, when Galle sea-port was in its heyday, lace products of the South-western coastal belt arose to outstanding heights in popularity. Today lace making is continued mainly by the Sinhalese ladies who inherited the handicraft from their ancestors.
Along Galle, Weligama coastal areas the ladies are seen engaged in lace making-crochet and tatting-in the verandahs of their houses. Among the range of products made with lace making are blouses, table linen, curtains, bed spreads and pillows.
Wooden Masks in Sri Lanka
Wooden Masks are produced mainly in the South western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Of all the areas of the South-western coastal belt, the city of Ambalangoda has a long heritage in the specialized handicraft of producing Wooden Masks in a wide range of sizes in vibrant colors are made of the timber of a tree locally called ‘Kaduru” a tree that grows in marshy lands bordering paddy fields is light and soft making it an ideal material to turn out wooden masks. The technique of producing masks has been passed from generation to generation from the ancient times. The logs of Kaduru are dried in the hard tropical sun till the sticky juice of the timber is evaporated and then cut into pieces of the required sizes.
Then the basic shape of the mask is fashioned by means of chisels and mallets out of the cut piece of the log accordingly to the measurements given in ancient recorded instructions. Seasoning of the timber follows, with smoking for six or seven day in a hearth. The seasoned piece of timber is carved, smoothened and painted. The Wooden masks, each with its distinctive features and colors, are carved to depict gods, humans, demons and beasts.