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
Accession number :
NA
Copyright :
East Ayrshire Council
