Kastanes, collectables and costumes

In Sri Lanka, the modern handicrafts market has concerned itself mainly with items of traditional provenance, curios such as devil masks, ebony elephants and Dumbara mats. There is also a thriving, if borderline illegal, trade in historical artefacts.

An example of the latter if the traditional Sinhalese ‘Kastane’ sword, which is a ceremonial sabre or scimitar - it is the sword carried by the lion in the national flag. Rev Charles Carter tells us that the term is a Portuguese; the scimitar originated among the Turks and Mongols; and certainly (notwithstanding popular comic books) the curved sword is relatively rare in our history - the straight or leaf shaped sword was more our style. However, it was assimilated quickly and became uniquely Sri Lankan.

Kastanes found their way out of Sri Lanka as decorative curios in the17th century and later, becoming very fashionable status symbols. One of the earliest examples known of the Kastane was one, now in Tokyo, acquired by the Japanese Keicho diplomatic mission to the Vatican (1613-1620). An equestrian portrait of Colonel Alexander Popham, an English parliamentarian and officer of the New Model Army, shows him wearing a scabbard holding a Kastane.

Western markets

The Victorian age of bric-a-brac brought about a profusion of mass-produced oriental-themed home ornaments. To fulfil the demand, decorative Kastane look-alikes were churned out in Europe and America.

Handicraft items

These differed from the authentic originals in having hilts out of proportion and longer, more curved low-grade steel blade. At some time in the 20th century, these decorative Kastanes were modified to enhance the performance of belly dancers - who balance scimitars on their heads and hips as part of their routine. Because of Islamic artistic prohibitions Middle-Eastern scimitars lack the visual appeal of the Kastane’s exquisite hilt decorations. So belly dancers began to use broadened-tip scimitar blades to provide counter-balance to the heavy Kastane hilts.

So the Kastane sword is clearly established in Western markets as a collector’s item, fetching prices in excess of US $ 3,000 a piece. Not so well known, but nevertheless sought-after are various Sri Lankan daggers, notably the highly decorated Pihiya-Kaetta or chopping dagger.

Fancy dress parties

Obviously, there is a limit to the number of antique weapons available and it is definitely in the best interest of the country to keep them here. However, we have a veritable army of silversmiths, blacksmiths and other traditional artisans who could make reproductions - unlike in the West, no one smith made an entire weapon, the separate parts and decorations being made by specialist craftsman.

The commerce in replica weapons is a thriving in the richer countries.

In addition to the domestic industries, which produce high-grade weapons, in the range of US $ 200-3,000 for a sword, China, India and other Third World countries have entered the market, producing rather lower-grade weapons, at US $ 50-200 for a sword.

The replica weapons market has been driven by an upsurge in interest in fantasy literature, particularly through films such as the ‘Lord of the rings’ trilogy and the ‘Narnia’ cycle, and TV programmes series such as ‘The game of thrones’ series.

Fantasy author David Chandler believes this rise in attention is caused at least partly by the projection on TV screens of the change in warfare that took place at the turn of the Millennium and the War on Terror. The writings of fantasy authors reflect what is happening around them:

‘We get the people in charge making secret deals and engaging in vicious reprisals (George R. R. Martin is the undisputed master here). We get sudden acts of terrifying carnage, and we get the desperate hopes of the people huddling in their mud hovels, hoping this time, just maybe, the war of good versus evil won’t be played out on their fields and in their homes this time.’ (‘Game of subgenres’, SF Signal, December 8, 2011)

Hence there is a greater interest in fantasy weapons, especially those from the various popular fantasy movies (eg. Theseus’ sword from ‘The immortals’, Gimli’s battleaxe from ‘Lord of the rings’ and the Japanese ‘Katana’ sword from ‘Sucker punch’) for fantasy games, re-enactments and pageants. The market in historic weapon collectables is also driven by the need for weapons for re-enactments.

There is a fairly large industry supporting fancy dress parties, the low-brow end of the re-enactment sector.

The costumes for these are generally mass-produced, having a lower level of authenticity than is required for historical re-enactments.

The latter requires great attention to detail in giving the re-enactors a life-like experience of what it was actually like, as well as giving spectators greater satisfaction in seeing an authentic display. The equipment and clothing is generally supplied, as materials or as finished products, by many cottage industries.

Historical events

Uniforms and other garments are sewn by hand or machine, using hand-woven and naturally-dyed cloth, to reflect the technology and fashions of the period portrayed.

Cottage industries also support the other equipage of re-enactors, with similar attention to authenticity, including headgear, footwear, camping equipment, military equipment and weapons.

It is this sector that Sri Lanka’s traditional craft industries are uniquely placed to make a contribution to. Apart from weapons (fantasy and foreign, as well as indigenous), our artisans can produce replica garments and equipment made of handloom textiles, leather and fibre materials such as coir.

In this context, our decision-makers should look to increase the marketability of heritage commodities by using domestic re-enactments of historical events and battles. Examples which spring to mind are the Sack of Vijitanagara using the elephant Kandula, the Battle of Wellawaya at which Dom Costantino de Saa was slain, and the various foreign embassies to Kandy.

Such re-enactments would also have the added advantage of making Sri Lanka more attractive to a rather more cultured class of tourists than those who merely come to this island for the sun, the sea and the sand.