Abstract:
The Iberian adventures beginning in the late 15th Century (the so-called Voyages of
Discovery) resulted in the transfer of many botanical and other products across the
globe, examples potato, tobacco and tomato to Europe and Asia. The Iberian
adventures were also the result of prior accumulation in the 14th to 15th centuries of
navigational knowledge and technologies from within the Mediterranean and from Asia,
examples of the latter: the New Arithmetic introduced from South Asia by the Arabs, the
lateen sail, the compass, the astrolabe and extensive geographical knowledge.
Sri Lanka was the major Asian civilizational entity that fell victim to Portuguese attack. Its
practice of Christian induced genocide (via the Pope’s Treaty of Tordisellas) resulted in a
massive cultural assault on the country. The consequent cultural imposition has been
widely documented.
Yet, in a reverse direction, there was a transfer of manufactured cultural products from
the Sinhalese into the Portuguese and hence to Europe. This was the Portuguese import
of Sinhalese jewellery. A Portuguese queen at the time, Queen Catherine was an avid
collector of Sinhalese jewellery who in turn gifted them to many European royal houses
as much sought after gifts. Many of these are today found in museums scattered over
Europe. Their documentation is found in Portuguese records at the time as well as in
recent books on Portuguese jewellery. The illustrated paper describes these
manufactured products transferred and now found in European museums such as in
Lisbon, Amsterdam, Munich, Paris and London (several photographed by the author). It
describes through Portuguese documentation at the time, the transfer process from Sri
Lanka to Portugal and beyond. It speculates on the technology used in Sri Lanka at the
time comparing Sinhala products and technology with the contemporary European
jewellery and its associated technology. It speculates briefly on its impact on the
Renaissance in that these collections found their way into Renaissance “curiosity boxes”
and helped kindle the European imagination.
