Village Life - Start of a Lacquered Ash Tray Photo and Text by Siri

The southern town of Ambalangoda in Sri Lanka is noted for their colorful and elaborate "devil dancing" masks. But there are many other small towns and villages hidden away in the lush countryside with their own specialities. Here in a village near Matale, in the hill country, the speciality is lacquer coated artifacts, like ash trays, jewelry boxes, walking sticks, and handles for various implements. To create an ash tray, for example, the raw wood is first cut to the rough shape and then turned to the final shape using a home made wood lathe, which is nothing but a spindle turned with a bowstring. The unfinished ash tray is then allowed to dry for a while so that lacquer can be applied.

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