Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

THE MAGAZINE AUCTION RESULTS
Dutch-Sri Lankan work
You don't often see Dutch-Sri Lankan works in the spotlight
at an auction. But this is precisely what happened
on 8 October at Drouot (Ader auction house) when an
ivory casket executed in around 1650 fetched €101,614,
at triple the estimate. While the Portuguese were the
first to settle in Sri Lanka in 1506, the Dutch laid their
hands on the island between 1638 and 1668, when their
predecessors abandoned the game. The Netherlands
remained its overlord until 1796, when the entire island
passed into the hands of the British. Well-known in the
76 GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL I N° 19
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Mughal courts of India for the lavish quality of their
work, Singhalese ivory sculptors continued to work
under the Batavian aegis, mingling Dutch-style floral
motifs with the oriental repertory. This type of decoration
was known as "narilata-vela" after the legendary
climbing plant whose name evoked female beauty.
Imagine a sort of vine whose flowers are women! This
covers the box here, with dancers and kinnaris (a kind of
mermaid) all charmingly entwined: irresistibly appealing
to enthusiasts. Sylvain Alliod