TWO RARE SRI LANKAN SATINWOOD AND CANE HIGH-BACK CHAIRS

 

Sri Lanka, Galle, mid 18th century

 

Each with two lion-paw front feet and plain back feet, the cross-stretcher with each a different ornament, the rest of the chair identical, with slightly backwards-declining seat with cane, the back-splat with elaborate ornament.

H. 102 x W. 54.5 x D. 48.5 cm
Seat height 45.5 cm

H. 100 x W. 53 x D. 48 cm
Seat height 45 cm

Note:

Apart from minor differences in size, the main difference between the chairs is that one chair has the carving of a shell motif in the cross-stretcher between the legs and the other the carving of two half lion-half bird creatures (Serapendiya).

A watercolour by Carl Frederik Reimer (circa 1740-1796) of the reception of the envoys of the king of Kandy by Governor Imam Willem Falck in the Great Reception Hall of the Governors Palace in Colombo in 1772 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-T-1904-18), shows a long row of this type of chair. Similar chairs can also still be found in the Wolvendaal Church in Colombo today