Ceylonese kastane

Kastanes are Sri Lankan dress swords with highly ornate hilts and short curved blades. They were particularly popular in the Kingdom of Kandy and coastal regions on the island, and were unique to the region before finding their way to Europe and elsewhere around the 17th century as decorative trinkets. Kastanes were made at Ceylon's Royal Golden Sword Workshops or "Rankadu Pattala". The hilt features several dragon heads as both pommel and terminals to the crossguard and knuckleguard. The hilt also has characteristic liya-pata (scrolls upon scrolls) detailing and gems set as dragon eyes, with one missing from the pommel.    
Object no :
RI_DC_0000088
Collection :
Creator :
NA
Place of Production :
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Dimensions :
L: 875 mm
Materials :
NA
Location :
NA
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