Sri Lankan Silver Brooch set with Matara ‘Diamonds’ & Coral

This fine, elegant brooch comprises faceted stones known locally as Matara diamonds (white zircons) in a gilded and silver setting. (Matara is a sea port on the south coast of Sri Lanka from where the stones come.) Silver foliate flourishes surround a central, multi-petalled flower motif embellished with a fine, pink coral cabochon.

A brooch of similar construction is illustrated in Coomaraswamy (1956, plate XLIX). Other examples are displayed in the National Museum, Colombo. Others are illustrated in Wimalaratne & Gomes (2001).

Ceylonese silversmiths and other craftsmen produced items with Dutch influence during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This brooch is one example, which has parallels with eighteenth century European jewellery, albeit with South Asian motifs: the brooch employs katiri mala flower motifs for example.

Such brooches were the basis for the kerosang brooches used by the Straits Chinese and Malay women in Malaysia and Singapore.Kerosang brooches were used in place of buttons to keep blouses closed. Many were produced by expatriate Tamil craftsmen and so often the jewellery of the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore bore similarities in terms of themes and construction with that produced and worn in Ceylon.

The last image shows a brooch with Matara ‘diamonds’ photographed at the National Museum of Sri Lanka, Colombo.