1916.9.14
Name and identification of character
The mask depicts a queen, devi (Sin.).
Context
A character in the story portion in Kolam. The iconographic details are complicated and the story cannot be named.
Material
Wood, Vel-kaduru (Nux vomica).
Iconography
The head-dress and the face reveal the features of both (i) an English lady, and (ii) a Kandyan noble lady. The shape of the broad diadem reveals the characteristics of the Kandyan art of Sri Lanka. But the neckwear, with a pleated collar, is that of an English queen or princess.
The diadem, which is divided into three compartments, represents a half crown, baga otunna (Sin.).
Pale yellow or lemon-yellow is applied on the face and inner part of the ear, while the lobes and forehead band are painted with a darker shade of yellow.
The mask is not carved in the round, and is light in weight.
Comments on the Umlauff Catalogue
The mask is, in the Umlauff Catalogue, wrongly identified as Wadage Devi (see note on Wadage in the descriptions of 1916.9.13, and 1916.9.4-5).
2000 02 18
Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka