Antique items:

Rare finds aplenty in Ambalangoda

By Ananda KANNANGARA

Mrs. Gunawardana in her antique shop

An antique is a collectible item of rare value and dates back to many years. It comprises furniture, coins, stamps and other items. Antique furniture is now available in many ‘Antique shops’ in and around Colombo, but how is one going to assess whether the piece of furniture is a true antique or not. Do we have the expertise to identify a true antique from the mock antique bits of furniture that has flooded the market. Of course a real collector of antiques will be able to make out the difference.

Meanwhile, many of these pieces of furniture fetch a high price as it has now become a fad to own antique furniture. We did a tour of Ambalangoda in the South which is famous for antiques in addition to masks and other Sri Lankan handicraft. We found many valuable and rare pieces of furniture here. Some of these date back to a few hundred years. The Ambalangoda antique shops are filled with antiques and period furniture. We spoke to a cross section of antique furniture dealers.

It is unbelievable that a 94-year-old Sri Lankan, living in Ambalangoda, which was remote in the days gone by owns a large bronze frying pan, which was used by King Parakramabahu who ruled Polonnaruwa several decades ago.

According to 94-year-old David Singho who is feeble and unable to walk, said his ancestors were related to king Parakramabahu and the frying pan had come to them from generations of the great king.

David Singho also said that a villager had gifted the brass frying pan to the king during the time the king started constructing Parakrama Samudra. Asked whether he could prove that this frying pan was used by King Parakramabahu, he recollected and said his great grandfather who was born in 1861 had related this story to his father James Simon.

“Now I am 94 years and my youngest son who is 65 years is the owner of my properties including this unique bronze frying pan,” he said.

Some antique items

Tourists buy antiques

David Singho said this frying pan has a history and he had asked his son to gift it to the Colombo Museum or Dalada Maligawa before his demise.

When we visited Ambalangoda to meet antique collectors and antique shop owners, a famous antique collector, David Singho told us the story of his priceless bronze frying pan.

Ambalangoda which is about 80 kilometres from Colombo is not only famous for antiques, but also for masks, puppets, wood and stone carvings and many other traditional handicraft items.

In addition, people are engaged in fishing and in the dry fish manufacturing industry. The village has also become a popular tourist destination and according to Sri Lanka Tourism, over 200,000 tourists pass Ambalangoda when visiting Down South to spend their vacation every year.

A prominent antique seller, Nandana Beruwalage whose antique showroom is in the heart of Ambalangoda town said he started collecting antiques from his school days and later started a showroom with the intention of selling them to foreign tourists.

“My father, the late Beruwalage Martin Mudalali who was a businessman also collected antiques as a hobby and this influenced me also to collect antiques.”

He said when his father died he took over the family business and later gave up that idea to start the antique selling business.

According to a number of small time antique collectors in the area, Nandana sells unique antiques which belong to the colonial era. He sells various kinds of antiques which have a history of over 80 to 120 years.

Some of the antique items he sells are pots, bronze statues of gods, furniture made of Kaluwara, Nedun, Burutha and Mahogany wood, plates, spoons etc.

Nandana also said there are large number of antique item collectors in the country and they visit houses and bungalows countrywide to collect items by offering the owners reasonable prices.

“These items are purchased by us and we sell them to foreigners,”

He said unlike in the past, foreigners buy small quantities of antique items due to lots of restrictions and laws imposed by the Government when taking antiques to foreign countries.

“Those days foreigners as well as foreign companies buy container loads full of antiques since there were no restrictions imposed to take antiques out of the country.

Asked about the value of VOC, Frog and Queen brand antique items, Nandana said although they are the oldest and valuable antique items, people those who own such items will never sell them. They keep them as mementos.

He requested the authorities to relax the laws and regulations so that foreigners can purchase them then there will be good business for local antiques.

He also said many foreigners are now buying antique items from India, since the Indian Government has not imposed strict regulations like Sri Lanka for foreigners to take out of the country by foreigners.

Nandana and his father’s photograph with antiques	Antique furniture

The owner of K and S Sales antique showroom at Kohuwala , Kumarasiri Hattotuwa said there is a demand from foreign nationals for Sri Lankan antique items and urged the authorities in the Sri Lanka Tourism to encourage foreigners to purchase more and more local antique items.

Kumarasiri said he started collecting antique items at a very young age and later started a showroom in Kohuwala with the objective of selling them to foreign nationals. He said there are many valuable antique items in many old houses in the country, but the owners of such items do not know the value of them and as a result they are just idling in homes and bungalows.

Kumarasiri said the antique business should be developed by the authorities as it will help local antique traders to bring foreign exchange to the country.

Kumarasiri has a wide range of antique items such as chairs, tables, wardrobes, records of popular Sinhala songs belonging to the 50s and 80s era, statues of gods and Sri Lankan kings. An antique seller, Vidanagama Aratchchi of Mt. Lavinia said he has been involved in the antique business for the past 27 years and said unlike other items, bronze statues of Buddhist monks and Christian priests sell fast.

“Sometimes, we visit old houses and purchase them by offering a reasonable amount to the owners and we keep at least 30 per cent commission and sell them to foreigners”. He also proposes that the authorities should educate the people of the value of the antiques and display the items at the Colombo Museum for posterity.

Sumanapala Gamalath, an antique seller from Borella said valuable antique items which are in temples countrywide must be protected from treasure hunters. He said almost every day we hear about treasure hunters stealing from temples. An antique collector, Sunil Gamage requested the authorities to supervise antique showrooms to see whether banned items are sold by shop owners, since complaints have been made by people that some traders sell banned items to foreigners. He also requested traders to refrain from selling banned antique items and hand them over to the Colombo Museum.