British Interventions in the Traditional Crafts of Ceylon (Sri Lanka),c. 1850–1930

This article examines British interventions in the traditional, hereditary crafts of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the colonial period. It assesses a set of Western assumptions in artistic and craft policy concerning local material culture in South Asia between 1850 and 1930. British interventions in local craft traditions are discussed in relation to Western conceptualizations of Ceylonese culture as being in a debased state (in contrast to a notional “golden age” of the distant past that was now lost). These assumptions are examined mainly through the writings of the prominent Euro-Sinhalese commentator, Ananda Coomaraswamy. This article also discusses the role of the vernacular crafts in relation to Ceylonese nationalism and the development of local cultural identity during the colonial era. The article concludes with an assessment of the legacy of local craft traditions (as well as the historic debates that surrounded these crafts) at the present time in Sri Lanka.