Commissie koloniale collecties
Advies

Object
Huidige eigenaar
Beheerder
Teruggaveverzoek van
Datum teruggaveverzoek
Adviesnr.
Datum advies
Samenstelling Commissie i.c.
Secretaris

Zilveren kastane (sabel)
Nederlandse Staat
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Republiek Sri Lanka
4 maart 2021, gespecificeerd op 18 november 2022
SL-2023-4
12 mei 2023
Mr. L.Y. Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (voorzitter),
prof. dr. L.N.K. van Broekhoven, prof. dr. R. Raben (leden)
Mr. J.A. van Ooijen MA

1. Het object
De kastane is een ceremoniële sabel vervaardigd van ijzer, zilver en goud en ingelegd met edelstenen,
waaronder diamanten en robijnen. De kastane is rijk gedecoreerd met een vrijwel massief zilveren
heft geornamenteerd met vier leeuwenkoppen (simhas) en een houten, met zilver beslagen schede.
De vorm en decoratie zijn typerend voor kastane uit het koninkrijk Kandy in de achttiende eeuw. De
kastane is in de collectie van het Rijksmuseum geregistreerd onder inventarisnummer NG-NM-7112.
2. Het beleidskader
De beoordeling in dit advies vindt plaats binnen de kaders van de Beleidsvisie collecties uit een
koloniale context van de Minister van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap.1 De beleidsvisie is gebaseerd
op het rapport Koloniale collecties en erkenning van onrecht van de Raad voor Cultuur.2
Een verzoek om teruggave kan worden ingediend door een Staat waar Nederland langere tijd
koloniaal gezag uitoefende.
In de Beleidsvisie zijn de kaders van de beoordeling samengevat als volgt omschreven:
De Commissie stelt eerst vast of het herkomstonderzoek toereikend is.
Vervolgens stelt de Commissie vast of er sprake is van onvrijwillig bezitsverlies. Daartoe wordt
beoordeeld of met een redelijke mate van zekerheid kan worden vastgesteld dat het verzochte
cultuurgoed onvrijwillig is verloren in een land waar Nederland langere tijd koloniaal gezag
uitoefende. Als wordt vastgesteld dat dat het geval is, zal worden geadviseerd tot een
onvoorwaardelijke teruggave van het cultuurgoed.
Indien uit de herkomstgeschiedenis niet kan worden vastgesteld of sprake is van onvrijwillig
bezitsverlies, en voor zover deze cultuurgoederen voor het land van herkomst een bijzonder cultureel,
1

Beleidsvisie 29 januari 2021, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2021/01/29/rapportbeleidsvisie-collecties-uit-een-koloniale-context
2
Rapport 7 oktober 2020, https://www.raadvoorcultuur.nl/documenten/adviezen/2020/10/07/advieskoloniale-collecties-en-erkenning-van-onrecht

1

historisch of religieus belang vertegenwoordigen, maakt de Commissie een belangenafweging. Het
belang van teruggave voor het herkomstland dient dan naar redelijkheid en billijkheid te worden
afgewogen tegen andere relevante belangen.
Relevante belangen kunnen zijn het culturele belang van het cultuurgoed voor het herkomstland, de
betrokken gemeenschappen in de herkomstlanden en in Nederland, het belang voor de collectie
Nederland, de toekomstige bewaaromstandigheden en de publieke toegankelijkheid. Objecten
kunnen veelzeggend zijn voor nationale en regionale tradities en de identiteit van een land, volk,
gemeenschap of individu. Het belang van een koloniaal cultuurgoed zal vaak voor Nederland anders
zijn dan voor het land van herkomst. Ook voor Nederlanders met wortels in de herkomstlanden
kunnen koloniale cultuurgoederen in Nederlandse musea van speciale betekenis zijn.
Indien het teruggevraagde object afkomstig is uit een voormalige kolonie van een andere mogendheid
maakt de Commissie eveneens een afweging. Het belang van teruggave voor het herkomstland dient
naar redelijkheid en billijkheid te worden afgewogen tegen andere relevante belangen. Wel zal herstel
van onrecht in de beoordeling het uitgangspunt moeten zijn. In dit geval is het onrecht niet door
Nederland veroorzaakt, maar is Nederland als huidige eigenaar van de objecten wel de enige om dit
onrecht te herstellen.
Indien de Commissie adviseert tot teruggave aan de verzoekende staat, dient ingevolge de Erfgoedwet
en de Beleidsvisie collecties uit een koloniale context van de Staatssecretaris van Cultuur en Media
rekening gehouden te worden met de vervreemdingsprocedure voor publieke collecties en wordt het
advies van de Commissie tevens beschouwd als een advies over de onmisbaarheid en
onvervangbaarheid van het object in de zin van artikel 4.18 van de Erfgoedwet.
3. De procedure
Op 18 november 2022 heeft de Republiek Sri Lanka een verzoek ingediend bij de Staatssecretaris voor
Cultuur en Media om teruggave van de zilveren kastane die is buitgemaakt tijdens de aanval op Kandy
in 1765. De Staatssecretaris heeft de Commissie Koloniale Collecties (hierna: de Commissie) verzocht
te adviseren over het teruggaveverzoek.
De beheerder van het object, het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, heeft onderzoek gedaan naar de
herkomstgeschiedenis en heeft daarvan rapport uitgebracht (bijlage 1).
De Commissie heeft het teruggaveverzoek en het herkomstrapport besproken in haar vergadering van
9 januari 2023. De Commissie heeft dr. Alicia Schrikker als herkomstonderzoeker over dit rapport
gehoord. Aangezien zij tevens lid is van de Commissie heeft zij niet deelgenomen aan de inhoudelijke
beraadslaging en besluitvorming van de Commissie over dit object. De Commissie had geen
aanvullende vragen voor het herkomstonderzoek.
In januari 2023 heeft Commissielid dr. Schrikker in Colombo gesproken met verschillende
vertegenwoordigers van de Ministeries van Cultuur en Buitenlandse Zaken, de senior presidentieel
adviseur veiligheid, de Director General van het Department of National Museums en de Nederlandse
ambassadeur. Zij heeft met hen gesproken over de voortgang van de behandeling van de
teruggaveverzoeken en over mogelijke vervolgstappen.
Op 24 maart 2023 heeft de Commissie gesproken met drs. Taco Dibbits, directeur, en dr. Valika
Smeulders, hoofd Geschiedenis, als vertegenwoordigers van het Rijksmuseum, de beheerder van de
collectie. Daarbij hebben zij aangegeven het teruggavebeleid te ondersteunen en de samenwerking
met het land van herkomst van de objecten belangrijk te vinden.
Het herkomstonderzoek is in Engelse vertaling gedeeld met vertegenwoordigers van Sri Lanka. Het
herkomstonderzoek gaf geen aanleiding tot aanvullende vragen.
2

Op 24 maart 2023 heeft de Commissie het teruggaveverzoek opnieuw besproken en besloten te
adviseren zoals hieronder weergegeven.
4. Het herkomstonderzoek
Het herkomstonderzoek is verricht door dr. Alicia Schrikker en Doreen van den Boogaart RMa, in
samenwerking met Senarath Wickramasinghe van het National Museum in Colombo. Alicia Schrikker
en Doreen van den Boogaart waren ten tijde van het onderzoek werkzaam als herkomstonderzoekers
in opdracht van PPROCE, in dienst van het NIOD.
Het rapport van het onderzoek is als bijlage bij dit advies gevoegd (bijlage 1). De inhoud van het
rapport wordt beschouwd als onderdeel van dit advies. In het rapport hebben de onderzoekers samengevat- de volgende bevindingen neergelegd.
“NG-NM-7112 is a highly ornamented Sri Lankan kasthāné, or sabre, with a silver hilt shaped with four
lion heads (simhas). Its shape and ornaments are typical for kasthāné from the Kandyan Kingdom in
the eighteenth century. This kasthāné is made in the Royal workshop of the Kingdom of Kandy and
was probably meant for a member of the Kandyan aristocracy. At present, the silver kasthāné is on
display in the Rijksmuseum and presented as a spoil of war, obtained by the VOC during the war with
Kandy in 1765. The object most likely arrived in the collection of the Dutch stadtholders (Willem IV
and Willem V) prior to 1795 and was first recorded in 1816. It is not exactly clear, however, what route
the silver mounted kasthāné took from Kandy into the collection of the Dutch stadtholders, which
eventually became part of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam collection.
The eighteenth-century archival trails of this object are less certain. Various scholars have suggested
that this object was among the spoils of war that Dutch East India Company Governor of Ceylon,
Lubbert Jan van Eck (in office 1762 – 1765), collected after the siege of the palace in 1765 and that
were sent to his heirs in the Dutch Republic in 1768. This report shows that it is not possible to identify
the silver mounted kasthāné with any certainty among objects described in the estate of Governor
Lubbert Jan van Eck at the time. We have also found no documentation of the transfer of this object
by any of the heirs of Van Eck to the collection of the stadtholder Willem V. At the same time, we have
also not come across evidence that would suggest another provenance. The exact moment of arrival
of the silver mounted kasthāné into the collection simply remained unrecorded.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Kandyan provenance was forgotten, and at least
until 1937 the kasthāné was described as originating from mainland Southeast Asia. Since 1965 the
silver kasthāné has been catalogued once more as a spoil of the Kandyan-Dutch war by the
Rijksmuseum together with the gold mounted kasthāné and knife and Lewke’s cannon.”
5. Inhoudelijke beoordeling van het teruggaveverzoek
Het verzoek om teruggave is ingediend door een Staat waar Nederland langere tijd koloniaal gezag
uitoefende en derhalve is de Beleidsvisie collecties uit een koloniale context van toepassing.
De Commissie is van oordeel dat het onderzoek deugdelijk is uitgevoerd en voldoende basis biedt om
te kunnen adviseren. Er is grondig bronnenonderzoek gedaan en de bestaande kennis is kritisch
geëvalueerd. Het rapport geeft een goede weergave van de vindbare informatie.
De Commissie heeft zich afgevraagd of hier sprake is van onvrijwillig bezitsverlies als bedoeld in het
beleidskader. Daartoe overweegt zij als volgt.

3

In het rapport zijn vier kernvragen benoemd die helderheid verschaffen over de herkomstvraag. Hierin
speelden materiaal- en kunsthistorisch een rol, naast het archiefonderzoek. Hieruit komt het volgende
naar voren.
Blijkt uit het materiaaltechnisch onderzoek dat deze kastane van koninklijke oorsprong of eigendom
was?
Op basis van het materiaaltechnisch onderzoek en specifieke details van de decoratie is met zekerheid
vastgesteld dat deze kastane is vervaardigd in de koninklijke werkplaatsen van Kandy. De objecten uit
de koninklijke werkplaatsen, doorgaans sieraden en decoratieve wapens bedoeld als geschenken,
waren altijd van hoge kwaliteit. De mate van rijkdom en verfijning van de decoratie was voorts een
indicatie van de status van de ontvanger. De experts zijn van mening dat de zilveren kastane bezit
moet zijn geweest van een van de hoogste edelen aan het hof.
Wat is in het museum en de literatuur bekend over de herkomst van deze kastane? Wat is bekend
over objecten die zijn buitgemaakt tijdens de aanval op Kandy door de VOC in 1765?
In 1765 werden Kandy en het koninklijk paleis aangevallen en verwoest door Nederlandse troepen
onder leiding van de Nederlandse gouverneur van Ceylon, Lubbert Jan van Eck. Van Eck overleed kort
na de inname van Kandy. Tijdens de inname en plundering van Kandy en het paleis zijn veel objecten
buitgemaakt, waaronder sieraden en wapens. Een aantal daarvan is in de nalatenschap van Van Eck
terechtgekomen en van daaruit in de collectie van stadhouder Willem V. Op basis van de bronnen kan
niet worden vastgesteld of de zilveren kastane zich bevond in de nalatenschap van Van Eck. Eerder is
er een foutieve toeschrijving gedaan aan een “zilvere buiksteker” op de inventarislijst, maar dat moet
een ander wapen, namelijk een dolk of mes geweest zijn.
Mogelijk is de kastane in de collectie van stadhouder Willem V opgenomen en als oorlogsbuit
tentoongesteld in het ‘curiositeitenkabinet’ van de stadhouder in Den Haag. Ooggetuigenverslagen
maken melding dat onder meer wapens in het curiositeitenkabinet werden tentoongesteld die waren
buitgemaakt van de koning van Kandy: “(…) unter den kunstsachen eine ganz silberne kanone mit
golde ubersogen, graviert, und mit edelgesteinen besezt, welche die Hollander in ihren lesten kriege,
met den koninge von Candi erbeutet haben, und viele andre sehr kostbare Waffen”. Op de
inventarislijsten van de collectie van Willem V is deze kastane echter niet te identificeren. Aangezien
bekend is dat die inventarislijsten allerminst volledig zijn, is daarmee de aanwezigheid van de kastane
in de collectie van Willem V ook niet uitgesloten.
In hoeverre bieden het familie-archief van Van Eck en andere Nederlandse archieven aanwijzingen die
de zilveren kastane in verband brengen met de aanval op Kandy in 1765, en welke route heeft de
kastane afgelegd in de Nederlandse collecties?
Op de ‘Lijsten van in januari 1795 meegenomen gouden en zilveren tafelgoed, schilderijen en kleding’
die Willem V meenam tijdens zijn verbanning naar Engeland in 1795 of in veiligheid liet brengen op
zijn kasteel Oranienstein in Duitsland, komt een object voor dat waarschijnlijk deze kastane is. Hieruit
kan worden geconcludeerd dat de kastane in ieder geval vóór 1795 in Nederland was.
Uit de documentatie blijkt dat de kastane in 1816 door Willem I is overgedragen aan het Koninklijk
Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden (KKZ). De vroegste vermelding in een Nederlandse collectieregistratie die
met zekerheid deze kastane betreft, is in KKZ onder nummer 6025: "Een sabel met massief zilveren
gevest, waarvan de knop als een draak gevorm is, als in een scheede als een vorige.” In documentatie
van het Rijksmuseum is over KKZ nr. 6025 de toevoeging gevonden: “En in 1816 door Koning Willem I
aan het Kon. Kab. van Zeldzaamheden overgedragen.”

4

De route waarlangs de kastane in Nederland is terecht gekomen kan echter niet met zekerheid
worden vastgesteld.
Overwegingen van de Commissie
De Commissie is van oordeel dat aannemelijk is dat de kastane afkomstig is uit het paleis van Kandy en
als oorlogsbuit is geroofd in 1765 op grond van de volgende bevindingen in het herkomstonderzoek.
Uit het materiaaltechnisch onderzoek is overtuigend gebleken dat de kastane gemaakt is in de
koninklijke werkplaatsen van Kandy voor een persoon uit hooggeplaatste, mogelijk koninklijke
kringen.
Om na te gaan of de kastane mogelijk al vóór 1765 in Nederland was, zijn onder meer de lijsten van de
stadhouderlijke collectie van voor 1765 doorgenomen. Daarop bevonden zich geen sabels die
voldeden aan de omschrijving. Ook hebben de onderzoekers nagegaan of de kastane een gift geweest
kan zijn. Ook daarvoor is geen aanwijzing gevonden. Bovendien menen de Sri Lankaanse experts dat
dit niet het type kastane is dat als diplomatieke gift gebruikt werd.
Met zekerheid is vastgesteld dat de kastane in 1816 deel uitmaakte van de Nederlandse collectie van
het KKZ en hoogstwaarschijnlijk voor 1795 al in bezit was van Koning Willem V. Op de lijst van
goederen die in 1795 zijn meegenomen toen Koning Willem V naar Engeland vluchtte komt een object
voor dat waarschijnlijk deze kastane is.
Hoewel zoals vermeld de route waarlangs de kastane in bezit is gekomen van Koning Willem V niet
met zekerheid kan worden vastgesteld, is het antwoord op die vraag niet doorslaggevend voor de
beoordeling.
Het is immers overtuigend gebleken dat de kastane afkomstig is uit koninklijke kringen in Kandy.
Tijdens de aanval op Kandy en de plundering in 1765 is veel buitgemaakt. Er zijn geen aanwijzingen
voor een diplomatieke gift. De meest aannemelijke herkomst van de kastane is op grond van het
voorgaande dat deze afkomstig is uit de oorlogsbuit van Kandy en derhalve onvrijwillig aan Kandy is
ontnomen.
Het Rijksmuseum gaat zelf ook al decennialang uit van roof als herkomst en er zijn geen aanwijzingen
gevonden die wijzen op iets anders.
De Commissie is op vorenstaande gronden, vervat in het herkomstrapport, van oordeel dat met een
redelijke mate van zekerheid is aangetoond dat het verzochte cultuurgoed onvrijwillig is verloren in
een land waar Nederland langere tijd koloniaal gezag uitoefende. De Commissie adviseert op grond
van het voorgaande tot onvoorwaardelijke teruggave van de kastane vanwege het onvrijwillige
bezitsverlies.
De Commissie is gevraagd te adviseren over de toepassing van artikel 4.18 van de Erfgoedwet indien
het advies inhoudt dat de gevraagde objecten moeten worden teruggegeven. Naar het oordeel van de
commissie prevaleert in dit geval het herstel van het onrecht uit het verleden en komt toepassing van
artikel 4.19 Erfgoedwet daarom niet aan de orde.

5

6. Het advies
De Commissie heeft het teruggaveverzoek beoordeeld en adviseert de Staatssecretaris tot
onvoorwaardelijke teruggave van de kastane met inventarisnummer NG-NM-7112 aan de Republiek
Sri Lanka.
Dit advies is vastgesteld door de Commissie Koloniale Collecties op 12 mei 2023.
De voorzitter

De secretaris

Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You

Jo’anne van Ooijen

Bijlagen
1. Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (silver sabre) (A.F. Schrikker, D. van den Boogaart,
maart 2022)

6

Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede [Silver sabre]
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

In collaboration with Senarath Wickramasinghe (National Museum, Colombo)
Custodian

Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam

Current possessor

The Dutch State

Current location

Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam

Inventory number

NG-NM-7112

Material/technique

silver (metal) wood
(plant material) iron
(metal) gold (metal)
diamond (mineral)
ruby (mineral)
crystal (lead glass)
forging / casting

Measurements

length 61.5 cm
length 49 cm ×
width 5.5 cm
width 9.3 cm
width 3 cm

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv.no. NG-NM-7112

Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

Summary of findings
NG-NM-7112 is a highly ornamented Sri Lankan kasthāné, or sabre, with a silver hilt shaped with four
lion heads (simhas). Its shape and ornaments are typical for kasthāné from the Kandyan Kingdom in
the eighteenth century. This kasthāné is made in the Royal workshop of the Kingdom of Kandy and
was probably meant for a member of the Kandyan aristocracy. At present, the silver kasthāné is on
display in the Rijksmuseum and presented as a spoil of war, obtained by the VOC during the war with
Kandy in 1765.
The object most likely arrived in the collection of the Dutch stadtholders (Willem IV and Willem V)
prior to 1795 and was first recorded in 1816. It is not exactly clear, however, what route the silver
mounted kasthāné took from Kandy into the collection of the Dutch stadtholders, which eventually
became part of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam collection. The eighteenth-century archival trails of this
object are less certain. Various scholars have suggested that this object was among the spoils of war
that Dutch East India Company Governor of Ceylon, Lubbert Jan van Eck (in office 1762 – 1765),
collected after the siege of the palace in 1765 and that were sent to his heirs in the Dutch Republic in
1768. This report shows that it is not possible to identify the silver mounted kasthāné with any
certainty among objects described in the estate of Governor Lubbert Jan van Eck at the time. We
have also found no documentation of the transfer of this object by any of the heirs of Van Eck to the
collection of the stadtholder Willem V. At the same time, we have also not come across evidence
that would suggest another provenance. The exact moment of arrival of the silver mounted kasthāné
into the collection simply remained unrecorded.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Kandyan provenance was forgotten, and at least
until 1937 the kasthāné was described as originating from mainland Southeast Asia. Since 1965 the
silver kasthāné has been catalogued once more as a spoil of the Kandyan-Dutch war by the
Rijksmuseum together with the gold mounted kasthāné and knife and Lewke’s cannon.

Reconstruction provenance
Seventeenth/ Eighteenth century
Made in the Paṭṭal Hatara. The Four Workshops of the King of Kandy.
Object analysis, this report.

[date unknown] – 1795/1816
presumably Stadholders’ collection, Dutch Republic
1795?-1816?
Presumably brought along in exile with Willem V to England and later (maybe) taken to
Brunswick, Germany; Slot Oranienstein, Germany
Jan van Campen, De Haagse jurist Jean Theodore Royer (1737-1807) en zijn verzameling Chinese voorwerpen (Uitgeverij
Verloren, 2000), 215; PPROCE Report RV-360-6021.

2

Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
1816 – 1885
Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, The Hague
NL-HlmNHA, 476, inv.no. 843, ‘Lijst van voorwerpen op last van Koning Willem I overgedragen aan het Kon. Kab. v.
Zeldzaamheden te ’s-Gravenhage’ [List of objects transferred to the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities in The Hague on the orders of
King William I], 1816.
Original document in: NL-HaNA, 2.04.01, inv.no. 4030, ‘Bijlage 1. Degens, Sabels en Stokken’ [Attachment 1. Swords, Sabres, and
Sticks], dated 6 July 1816, no. 37.

1885 –1927
Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Inventory card Rijksmuseum Amsterdam NG-NM-7112.

1927 – present
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Introduction and context
This provenance report focuses on NG-NM-7112, a silver mounted kasthāné currently displayed in
the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in room 1.5: The Netherlands overseas. The current narrative adopted
by institutions and researchers is that this kasthāné, together with a gold mounted sabre (NG-NM560), a golden knife with crystal hilt (NG-NM-7114), a cannon (NG-NM-1015) and two wall-guns (NGNM-519 and 520) were spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war (1762-1766) and obtained during the
violent, ruthless plundering of the Kandyan Palace in 1765.
In this provenance report we assess the material and archival evidence that has been used to support
the presentation of the silver mounted sabre as part of the spoils of war and discusses the current gaps
in our knowledge regarding this object. In the report we will therefore answer the following questions:
1) Which material elements support the thesis that the silver mounted sabre was of royal
origin?
2) What knowledge is available in the museum and the literature regarding the provenance of
the object?
3) What is known about the objects that were looted during the siege of the palace and town
of Kandy in 1765 by the VOC?
4) To what extent do the eighteenth-century archival records from the VOC, the family archive
of Van Eck, and the Royal Archives (KHA) provide us with concrete evidence that connects the
kasthāné to the Kandyan-Dutch war of 1762-1766?
5) What route did the kasthāné take through the Dutch collections?
The research was conducted in collaboration with experts from the Sri Lankan National Museum in
Colombo and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

3

Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

Object analysis
The silver mounted kasthāné has been analysed in the Atelier of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam on 18
May and 25 November 2021 together with specialists from the museum’s Conservation & Science
department. The metal measurements and analysis of the stones were shared with Senarath
Wickramasinghe from the Sri Lankan National Museums. He further analysed the design and
decoration on the silver mounted kasthāné with the help of a series of detailed photos that were
made on 18 May 2021 and 25 November 2021. Based on these data and earlier publications on
Kandyan arms, Senarath Wickramasinghe provided us with his analysis of the object, which we have
integrated in this overall object analysis.
There is no doubt about the Kandyan origin of the kasthāné, as it is a very typical Kandyan, and
therefore Sri Lankan object. 1 Kasthāné were ceremonial swords or sabres and not used as fighting
swords. The kasthāné came in different qualities, and can in general be divided into two categories:
‘up-country’ kasthāné (referring to the mountainous area of the Kandyan kingdom) and ‘low-country’
(referring to the island’s maritime regions that were partially occupied by the Dutch) kasthāné.
Kasthāné from the low country (i.e. the area under Dutch rule) were coarser, both in design and in
material used. 2 The Rijksmuseum holds an example of such a low country kasthāné: NG-1982-18, in
this case the hilt is made of carved wood. 3 For the Kandyan nobility, kasthāné were part of their
formal custom when in function. Kasthāné were typical gifts from the Kandyan king to his highest
nobles in reward for their service and on occasion were used as diplomatic gifts. 4 The king had
decorative objects such as jewellery, swords, and chains made in the Four royal workshops (pattal
hatara) for this purpose. 5
The craftsmen from the pattal hatara worked almost exclusively for the court and their positions
were hereditary. The Four Workshops were divided, respectively, into the “jewel,” “crown,” “golden
sword,” and “throne” workshops. Kasthāné produced in the royal workshops were all high quality,
yet the exact quality in terms of design, decoration, and material of the kasthāné signified the rank to
whom the object was gifted: the more decorated (i.e. use of figures, gems, silver, gold), the higher
the rank of the receiver. 6
The ceremonial function of Kasthāné at the Kandyan court are described in travel reports and in
drawings and paintings of Kandyan chiefs and noblemen by Dutch artists in the eighteenth century. 7
For example, in 1681 Robert Knox observed:

P.H. D. H De Silva and Senerath Wickramasinghe, Ancient Swords, Daggers, and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums (Colombo: Dept. of
National Museums, 2007): 128.
2 P.H.D.H De Silva and Senerath Wickramasinghe, Ancient Swords, Daggers, and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums (Colombo: Dept. of National
Museums, 2007): 162-167.
3 Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, NG-1982-18, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-1982-18. Purchased by the
Rijksmuseum on 21 September 1982
4 Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art (Being a Mongraph on Mediaeval Sinhalese Arts and Crafts, Mainly as Surviving in the
Eighteenth Century, with an Account of the Structure of Society and the Status of the Craftsmen) (Broad Campden: sn, 1908): 54-59.
5 John Pybus, Account of Mr. Pybus’s Mission to the King of Kandy, in 1762 (W. Skeen, government printer, Ceylon, 1862): 105.
6 Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, 58, 213, plate 23, figure 2, 7, 8.; P.E.P. Deraniyagala, "Sinhala weapons and armour,” Journal
Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch XXXV (1942): 95, 106-113; See also: Arnold Wright, Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its
History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources (Asian Educational Services, 1999), 182; Pivot Politics: Changing Cultural Identities in
Early State Formation Processes (Het Spinhuis, 1994): 198.
7 Cf. Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, RP-T-1904-18,2, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/28203--roel-kramer/eyekandy/objecten#/RP-T-1904-18,2; NG-1985-7-1-8, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-1985-7-1-8; NG-1985-7-3-127
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-1985-7-3-127
1

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Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
When he [the Kandyan King] first promotes them [the Adigar] (…) he (...) gives them a sword, the hilt
all carved and inlaid with silver and brass very handsomely, the scabbard also covered with silver — a
knife, and halberd; and lastly, a town or towns for their maintenance. 8

And in 1803 James Cordiner similarly explains that fine silver kasthāné were produced for the
Kandyan nobility:
All the men in office wear swords of a moderate size, antiquated and not formidable in appearance. The
hilt and scabbard are made of silver. The former imitates the head of a tiger, the latter is embossed and
turned round at the point. 9

Dutchmen were also gifted with sabres or swords described as “silver-hilted” occasionally during
their diplomatic embassies to the Kandyan king. 10 We do not know what these swords looked like,
but we know that the king perceived the Dutch as vassals, and therefore may have treated the
ambassadors the same as his chiefs and gifted them with the same kind of gifts, including kasthāné. 11
Senarath Wickramasinghe emphasizes that silver kasthāné like NG-NM-7112 could have been made
for members of the highest aristocracy only. What makes this silver kasthāné so special? Material
analysis done by the Rijksmuseum conservation department reveals the following: the kasthāné’s hilt
is of near solid silver. Its curved blade is made of steel, while the blood trench is covered with silver
tendrils. 12 The wooden sheath is completely silver-plated and decorated tendrils ending in a curl. 13
The silver kasthāné is set with several pale coloured gemstones. One of those has been examined
more closely by Dr Hanco Zwaan of the Netherlands Gem Laboratory, Leiden and the Conservation &
Science staff of the Rijksmuseum and might be a chrysoberyl cat’s eye, with presumably a
provenance in Sri Lanka. It is a very transparent stone and needs more research. 14

8 Robert Knox, An historical relation of the island Ceylon, in the East Indies (R. Chiswell, 1681), 53.

9 James Cordiner, A Description of Ceylon, Containing an Account of the Country, Inhabitants, and Natural Productions;: With Narratives of

a Tour Round the Island in 1800, the Campaign in Candy in 1803, and a Journey to Ramisseram in 1804 (Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme ...
and A . Brown, Aberdeen., 1807): 97.
10
T. B. H. Abeysinghe, “Embassies as Instruments of Diplomacy: A Case Study from Sri Lanka in the first half of the eighteenth century,”
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka Branch 86, New Series, Vol. 30 (1985): 17-18.
11 At the last audience during the yearly ambassies by the VOC to the Kandyan Court, it was customary that gifts were also given back to
the ambassador, his secretary, and the interpreter. The gifts depended on the rank of the VOC official. Ambassadors usually received silver
swords [kasthāné?], golden chains, and golden rings set with stones. The secretary got a golden chain and rings and the interpreter only a
chain. Sometimes, when the ambassadors pleased the king, they would also receive an elephant. T. B. H. Abeysinghe. “Embassies as
Instruments of Diplomacy: A Case Study of Sri Lanka in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri
Lanka Branch, 1985/86, New Series, Vol. 30 (1985/86), p. 17-18; In this Sinhalese account of a Dutch embassy to the court of Kandy in
1731-32 the word kasthāné is literally used for the sabre gifted to the Dutch ambassador: Paul E. Pieris, “The Dutch embassy to kandy in
1731-32.” The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, vol. 21, no. 62, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri
Lanka (RASSL), 1909, pp. 187–220: 213.
12 For the exact composition of the hilt and sheath and the degree of silver and copper, see the XFR report by the Conservation and Science
Department of the Rijksmuseum, dated 30 November 2021. Please note that these reports will be available via the Documentation folder
of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam from April 2022.
13 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Sofie Hoffmann, Behandelingsrapport NG-NM-7112, [no date].
14 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Hanco Zwaan, Jan de Hond, Joosje van Bennekom, Ellen van Bork, Suzanne van Leeuwen, Report "Gemstones
on the Cannon of Kandy”, June 2021. Please note that these reports will be available via the Documentation folder of the Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam from April 2022.; Email Joosje van Bennekom, Metal Conservator Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 6 December 2021.

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Senerath Wickramasinghe concludes on the basis of the technology, workmanship and decorative
motif that this is a typical Kandyan up-country kasthāné, possibly produced in the Kandyan royal
workshops. He describes the Kandyan elements as follows: 15

Photo 2: : Explanation of the different parts of a kasthāné, by Infographic (Photo by Senarath Wickramasinghe

“The pommel (gediya) has a simha head with conical crest. The lips and eye lids are decorated with
arimbuva ornaments, the ears are leaf shaped with carved tip and the main is shown as three whorls
liyapata (palapeti). The silver hilt (mita) has octangular and decorative panels that are separated by
plain longitudinal ridges. The knuckle guard (Ath Vasma) has a Sarapenda (lion-head and bird’s body)
motif which arises from one quilian and runs forward towards the pommel. The lower part has
arimbuva decoration. The front surface shows a standing female figure –- known as nari lata.”

15 Presentation Senerath Wickramasinghe, Director (Cultural) Department of National Museums, Sri Lanka, “Ancient swords, daggers, and

knives in Sri Lankan museums,” Expert meeting Sri Lankan objects Rijksmuseum, 27 August 2021. Please note that documentation on this
will be available via the Documentation folder of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam from April 2022.

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Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

Photos 3 and 4: Nari Lata on silver mounted kasthāné (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,
inv.no. NG-NM-7112).

Furthermore, Wickramasinghe tells us: “The quilion (Varisarkuva) is shaped in the form of a makara
(dragon) head. The Ricasso has a long rectangular silver overlay and liyapata decoration. The blade
(Kadupatha) is more curved and decorated than the golden sword (NG-NM-560) and single fuller and
it extends to near top of blade. The blade is decorated with a liyavela design.” 16
The steel blade of the silver kasthāné is made in Kandy, as is evidenced from the decoration on the
blade and the way in which the iron is polished.17 In that regard, this silver mounted kasthāné stands
out, as the blades of other Kandyan kasthāné from the same period, including NG-NM-560, were
often of European origin. 18 The scabbard (Kopuva) is made of wood, entirely covered by wooden foil
with embossed traditional motif. The upper end is “V” shaped. The designs are similar to other
kasthāné of the Kandyan period, placing its creation in Kandy in between 1597–1815. 19

16 Presentation Senerath Wickramasinghe,

27 August 2021..

17 XFR report, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam dated 30 November 2021. Please note that these reports will be available via the Documentation

folder of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam from April 2022.
P.H. D. H De Silva and Senerath Wickramasinghe, Ancient Swords, Daggers, and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums (Colombo: Dept. of
National Museums, 2007): 147.
19 Presentation Senerath Wickramasinghe, 27 August 2021For the typical Kandyan decorative elements such as the Nari Lata, the liyapata
the sarapenda and the simha see: Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, chapter IV: “Elements of Sinhalese design and ornament.”
18

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Photos 5 and 6: Details of the scabbard. Notice how the kibihi-muna (lion face) is used as starting point
of the flower pattern. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv.no. NG-NM-7112).

Based on the exceptionally fine silverwork, it is concluded that the silver kasthāné was made in the
Four Workshops of the Kandyan King. Kasthāné produced in the royal workshop were all of high
quality, yet the exact quality in terms of design, decoration, and material of the kasthāné signified
the rank to whom the object was gifted: the more decorated (i.e. use of figures, gems, silver, gold),
the higher the rank of the receiver. 20 The object analysis does not provide us with further evidence
about the intended owner of the kasthāné, except that the exquisite use of silver and gems suggests
it was exclusively made for one of the adigars, or other members of the highest aristocracy at the
court. 21

20 Coomaraswamy, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, 58, 213, plate 23, figure 2, 7, 8.

21 See for comparison this silver kastane: Mandarin Mansion Antiques. “Sinhalese kasthāné dated 1776.” Sinhalese kasthāné dated 1776 |

Mandarin Mansion

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Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

Present knowledge regarding provenance available in the Rijksmuseum and literature
The silver kasthāné is a well-known object and is described in various Rijksmuseum catalogues and
specialist publications on Sri Lankan and south Asian arms and armour. 22 The various authors
consistently suggest that the kasthāné was part of the spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war and that it
was presented as a gift to the Dutch stadtholder Willem V by the executors Governor van Eck’s
estate. Where does this information come from?
This kasthāné, together with the golden pihiya and the gold mounted kasthāné (NG-NM-7114 and
NG-NM-560) became objects of historical research for the first time in the 1960s, when two nearsimultaneous exhibitions were being prepared: one in the Dutch National Archives (then called
Algemeen Rijksarchief) on the history of the VOC in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) (Ceylon-Nederland
in het verleden 1602-1797), and one memorial exhibition on the Dutch royal collections: Koninklijk
Kabinet van Schilderijen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek en Koninklijk Penningenkabinet. 23 Professor Th. H.
Lunsingh Scheurleer, who was affiliated with the Rijksmuseum until 1963, worked on the latter. 24
Correspondence between the Rijksmuseum and the Dutch National archives in 1965 show how both
parties were looking for archival evidence on the provenance of these three objects, in addition to
their search for extra information on Lewke’s cannon, which already had been object of research. 25
The National Archives provided the museum with copies from the VOC archives regarding the spoils
of the Kandyan-Dutch war of 1765, dated at 22 October 1765 (though misread at the time as 22
December 1765). 26
Copies from the estate of Governor van Eck from his family archives were also added as evidence of
the objects’ provenance. It was on the basis of this documentation that the curators concluded that
together with the cannon, the silver kasthāné, and the two other objects, the golden kasthāné (NGNM-560) and the golden pihiya (NG-NM-7114) were spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war. It was
subsequently described as such in both exhibition catalogues. 27 Curiously though, Lunsingh
Scheurleer connected the silver kasthāné to a silver ‘belly-dagger’ (buiksteker) from the list. 28 Here
22 Among others: Lodewijk J. Wagenaar, Cinnamon and Elephants: Sri Lanka and the Netherlands from 1600, Rijksmuseum Country Series

(Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2016): 121-123; P. H. D. H De Silva, “The Sword of State of King Sri Vickrama Raja Simha of Kandy, Sri Lanka,” Arms and
Armour: Journal of the Royal Armories 7 (2002): 94–97.
23 M.A.P Roelofsz, Marius Petrus Henricus Roessingh, and Algemeen Rijksarchief ('s-Gravenhage), Ceylon-Nederland in het verleden, 16021796: tentoonstelling in het Algemeen Rijksarchief, ’s-Gravenhage, mei-sept. 1965 (’s-Gravenhage: Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1965), Th.H
Lunsingh Scheurleer, 150 Jaar Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Koninklijk Penningkabinet:
herdenkingstentoonstelling in het Mauritshuis, 1966 (’s-Gravenhage, 1966).
24
Earlier Lunsingh Scheurleer had already traced back NG-NM-1015 as spoil of the 1765 Kandyan-Dutch war to the collection of
Stadtholder Willem V and the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden,Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, “Het Koninklijk Kabinet van
Zeldzaamheden en zijn beteekenis voor het Rijksmuseum,” Oudheidkundig Jaarboek 13 (1946): 50.
25
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, file with object information NG-NM-560, D010291. Documents referred to were: National Archives The Hague
(NL-HaNA), 1.04.02, inv.no. 3143 Ceylon, "Resolutien genomen in raden van politie zeedert 5 Januarij tot 31 December 1765” [Resolutions
taken in the boards of Police, from 5 January to 31 December 1765], dated 22 October 1765, f. 2882; NL-HaNA, 1.10.65.01, “Inventaris van
het archief van de familie Van Panthaleon van Eck, 1398-1946” [Inventory of the family archive of Van Panthaleon van Eck, 1398-1946],
Inv.no. 60. 1, “Brieven betreffende overlijden en regeling der nalatenschap van Lubbert Jan van Eck, heer van Overbeek, gouverneur van
Ceylon, door de executeurs van diens testament te Colombo aan de erfgenamen gericht. Met bijlagen.” [Letters regarding the death and
settlement of the estate of Lubbert Jan van Eck, Lord of Overbeek, Governor of Ceylon, addressed to the heirs by the executors of his will in
Colombo. With attachments], dated 1765; NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, inv.no. 3138 Ceylon, “Copia secreete brief van den gouverneur alleen aan
generaal en raden” [Copy of secret letter by the Governor, only addressed to the General and Boards], dated 10 November 1765, f. 367.
26 Ibid.
27 Lunsingh Scheurleer, 150 Jaar: Herdenkingstentoonstelling, 74.; Meilink Roelofs, Ceylon-Nederland in het verleden, 1602-1796 (Den Haag
1965), 23: "Zilveren sabel van Singalees maaksel, afkomstig uit boedel L.J. baron van Eck.”
28 Lunsingh Scheurleer, 150 Jaar: Herdenkingstentoonstelling, 74. He cites from the source as follows: ‘Een-Buijk-Steeker met silver beslag
zijnde een instrument waarrneede seeker Moor van de vijanden omgecogt in Candia het op het Leeven van den overleedene had
toegelegt'. See below for a more extensive discussion of this reference.

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Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
Lunsingh Scheurleer was clearly mistaken. The word buiksteker (lit. ‘belly-dagger’) refers to a waistknife, rather than a sabre or sword. The word buiksteker was not commonly used at the time in the
Dutch Republic, but we found a reference from Bengal in the same period, explaining that a
buiksteker was a dagger carried around the waist. Historically, the word houwer (sabre or sword)
would have been used to describe a kasthāné. 29
In 1975 the director of the National Museum in Colombo, P. H. D. H. de Silva, undertook the
laborious task of identifying all Sri Lankan objects and manuscripts that were kept in collections
outside Sri Lanka. His overview was published under the title Antiquities and Other Cultural Objects
from Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Abroad. 30 This has become a classic reference work and in 1980 De Silva’s
catalogue formed the basis of a large restitution request of the Sri Lankan government, which was
unsuccessful. 31 Among the described Sri Lankan objects in the Rijksmuseum we also find the silver
mounted kasthāné. De Silva stresses the elegance and uniqueness of the object:
N.M. 7112 – A Kastané sword as elegant and dignified as N.M. 560, but hilt and scabbard are of silver.
Pommel of hilt with simha head. Counter guard terminating in a serapendiya head at its upper end
and with simhah end at lower extremity. Pas d’ane terminating in simha heads. Ricasso and portion of
blade with silver overlay work. Length 60-5 cm. 32

Researchers who published on this group of objects more recently, such as Lodewijk Wagenaar,
Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer, and Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis, did not question the assigned provenance
of the silver kasthāné and the two other objects. 33 In the most recent publication, Cinnamon and
Elephants, Lodewijk Wagenaar writes that the two kasthāné and the dagger were gifted together
with the cannon (NG-NM-10150) to Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who transferred
them to Stadtholder Willem V. The silver kasthāné, as well as the golden pihiya and the golden
kasthāné, would have been taken by the Dutch army in Kandy. 34
Since 2015, the Rijksmuseum label has described this group of objects as follows:
Following an unsuccessful invasion of Kandy in 1764, the VOC troops nevertheless succeeded one year
later in penetrating the king’s centre of power. Peace negotiations failed and the troops plundered the
palace and the city. The booty included many costly jewels and arms, including these three ornate
weapons that were probably the king’s personal property. 35

29J. Stavorinus, Reize van Zeeland, over de Kaap de Goede Hoop, naar Batavia [...] in de jaaren MDCCLXVIII tot MDCCLXXI. Deel V

Aanmerkingen over Bengalen. (Leiden 1793): 58

30 P. H. D. H. de Silva, A Catalogue of Antiquities and Other Cultural Objects from Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Abroad (Colombo: Department of

government printing, 1975).

31 See Appendix 2x of Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart, PPROCE report NG-NM-1015.
32

De Silva, A Catalogue, 376.

33 Wagenaar, Cinnamon and Elephants, 121-123; Lunsingh Scheurleer, “Een pronkmes uit Ceylon,” 52–58; Jan van Campen and Ebeltje

Hartkamp-Jonxis, Aziatische Weelde: VOC-Kunst in Het Rijksmuseum (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2011); 86.
34 Wagenaar, Cinnamon and Elephants, 123. Lodewijk Wagenaar adds though that it is not certain if they were taken from the palace of the
king of Kandy.
35 Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, NG-NM-560, NG-NM-7112, NG-NM-7114.

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What we want to highlight here is that the information gathered in 1965 has circulated ever since as
unquestioned fact. It appears that subsequent researchers have not looked up the original
documentation in the Van Eck estate, nor in the VOC archives. This is evidenced by recurring
references in the literature of 22 December rather than 22 October 1765 as the first date when the
looted objects collected by Van Eck were first listed. 36 The documentation gathered in 1965 requires
further scrutiny. How were the objects from the lists in the VOC archives and the Van Eck family
archives identified? Were the objects indeed gifted to Stadtholder Willem V (via the Duke of
Brunswick) in conjunction with the cannon? How and when did these objects, including the silver
kasthāné, arrive in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in the first place? And what was known about
them at the time?

The Kandyan-Dutch war 1762-66 and the spoils of war
The association between Lewke’s cannon and the silver kasthāné, the golden pihiya, and the golden
kasthāné is very strong. This was also the ground on which they were connected with the KandyanDutch war in 1765 and to the estate of Governor van Eck. What exactly is known about the objects
that were obtained in the war? What information is provided in the VOC archives and the family
archives of Van Eck? And can we indeed identify the golden kasthāné in Van Eck’s estate?
The Kandyan-Dutch war of 1762-1766 is commemorated in both Sinhala and Dutch primary sources,
and in both cases the looting of objects plays a prominent role. A royal historical chronicle from Sri
Lanka, the Cūḷavaṃsa, describes how the king of Kandy decided to support popular resistance against
the VOC. “[His] dignitaries set forth with the people living in Lanka, fought the fearful battle with the
Olanda people, destroyed the foe, burned down the strongholds and terrified him in every possible
way.” 37 Conflicts between the Dutch and the local inhabitants of the Dutch occupied areas had
started in 1759/60 but in 1761 the restrained relations between the Dutch in Colombo and the king
of Kandy led to open warfare. 38 VOC Governor Lubbert Jan van Eck got hold of the Kandyan lowlands
in 1762 and 1763, whereupon he decided to invade the town and palace of Kandy up in the
mountains. The first campaign of early 1764 failed completely. 39 Even after the Dutch VOC troops
invaded the city of Kandy on 19 February 1765, the Kandyan defence used guerrilla tactics, by
retreating fast after an attack and using the rainy season to their advantage. 40
During the days before the invading of Kandy, the king brought to safety his family and the treasures
of the Kandy Palace and Temple of the Tooth. 41 An eyewitness, a Dutch soldier who worked as

36 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, file with object information NG-NM-560, D010291; NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, inv.no. 3143 Ceylon, “Resolutien

genomen in raden van politie zeedert 5 Januarij tot 31 December 1765” [Resolutions taken in the boards of Police, from 5 January to 31
December 1765], dated 22 October 1765, f. 2882.
37 Wihelm Geiger and C. Mabel Rickmers, Culavamsa: Being the More Recent Part of the Mahavamsa (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1996): p.
266, line 115
38 R. Raven-Hart, The Dutch Wars with Kandy, 1764-1766, Ceylon Historical Manuscripts Commission. Bulletin. No. 6. (Nugegoda, 1964), 3.
39
Wagenaar, Cinnamon and Elephants, 121.
40 Raven-Hart, The Dutch Wars with Kandy, 114; Prof. Gananath Obeyasekere, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, “The Many Faces of the
Kandyan Kingdom, 1591-1765: Lessons for our Time?” 23rd April 2014, Colombo, Princeton University lecture, p. 36-37.
http://www.thesapri.org/pdf/lecture.pdf
41
Culavamsa, p. 267, line 122-126. The King had sent two Uparajas with his treasures and the sacred Tooth Relic to “a province which was
scarcely passable owing to mountains, forest and difficult roads.”

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surgeon in Kandy, described the situation as follows: “The King, with tears in his eyes, had caused the
most precious objects to be removed from the Palace, and had then given leave to his troops to take
what they wished of the remainder [treasures].” 42 This was not in vain as the Temple of the Tooth,
the most important Buddhist shrine on the island, was targeted by the Dutch army and when they
forced their way into the town, the palace and temple were razed by the troops and they “destroyed
the sacred books and everything else.” 43 The court was desecrated due to the slaughtering of the
holy cows and the destruction of the Buddha statues and the palace was set on fire when the
Dutch troops eventually retreated from the city due to strong resistance and a lack of food on
31 August 1765. 44
The troops invading the city on 19 February 1765 were explicitly instructed not to plunder, but upon
arrival in Kandy, the Dutch troops had found the warehouses partly emptied by the retreated
Kandyan troops, who were allowed to do so by the king. 45 The looting that followed spread from the
warehouses to even the apartments of the king himself. 46 Among the objects taken were linen,
fabrics, furniture, some silverwork objects, curiosities, and copper coins. 47 Officers, soldiers, and
slaves alike went looting. For instance, it is recorded that back in Kandy one officer had taken
“silverworks, diamonds, and rings with and without stones”. 48 This officer had defended himself later
in Colombo by saying that he had bought the objects from two soldiers, just as Governor Van Eck
himself had done. In fact, Van Eck had also bought several valuable and rare objects from the spoils.
“Those objects might have been sold for give-away prices to Moors who were waiting to buy it,” 49 he
wrote. Indeed, a great deal of the booty was sold or left behind by the soldiers in Kandy or during
their trip back to Colombo after the retreat of the troops from Kandy at the end of August 1765. 50

42 Raven-Hart, The Dutch Wars with Kandy, 98-99; Sri Lanka National Archives, Colombo (SLNA), Lot 1: Archives of the Dutch Central

Government of Coastal Ceylon, inv.no.4881, "Report of the military campaign.” Transcription kindly shared with us by Chris Nierstrasz,
author of In the Shadow of the Company: The Dutch East India Company and Its Servants in the Period of Its Decline (1740-1796) (Brill,
2012).
43 Culavamsa, p. 267, line 122-126.
44 Ibid.; Lorna Dewaraja, “Thailand’s Sublime Gift to Sri Lanka: The Services rendered by UPĀLI MAHĀ THERA and his associates,” Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka 48 (2003): 88.
45 SLNA, Lot 1, inv.no. 4881, “Report of the military campaign,” f. 223
46 NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, 3138, Copia secreete brief van den gouverneur alleen aan generaal en raden in dato 10 November 1765 [Copy of the
secret letter from the Governor [Falck] only to the general and boards, dated 10 November 1765], f. 363.
47 NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, 3138, Copia secreete brief van de leeden van het geheime committe aan generaal en raden in dato 31 Maart 1765
[Copy of the secret letter of the members of the secret committee to the General and boards, dated 31 March 1765], f. 463b-464.
48 NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, 3138, Copia secreete brief van den gouverneur alleen aan generaal en raden in dato 10 November 1765 [Copy of the
secret letter from the Governor [Falck] only to the general and boards, dated 10 November 1765], f. 366b-367: “De kannekappel van La
Baume die hier voor een ordentlijk man te boekstaande schillie Christoffel fernando, waar op La Baume zich, als zijnge slaagen vijand,
beriep heeft verklaard, dat hij veele gouden ringen met en sonder steenen, zoo ook veel ander klein zilverwerk bij La Baume gezien had,
waar van de kostbaarste ring aan den Her Kommandeur Mooijaart, toen ter tijd op Kolombo zich bevindende, voor 80 Rijkst door hem
kannekappel verkocht was.”
49
Ibid, f. 366b.
50 Ibid, f. 369.

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
Governor van Eck died some weeks after the conquest of Kandy and in his estate ten Kandyan
objects were identified as spoils of war. These ten objects were described as follows:
• A golden container with a golden ola as well as a small bag with small golden balls attached
• A Buddha statue made of tombac
• An ivory machine with underneath a metal disk, that has an engraving in it
• A small canon piece inlaid with silver
• A fine decorated bow with golden mounting, together with an equally decorated quiver and
arrows.
• A sword with golden grip and its sheath with golden mounting together with a part epee [sword
knot] with silver mounting
• A red-lacquered baton of command with on both ends golden studs
• A fine decorated belly-knife with golden mounting
• A silver gold plated machine as a clock with underneath a fitting bottom piece
• A kind of palate/canopy with pillars of gold but overlaid with gold and silver. 51
The ten objects were delivered to the big cash register [groote geldkas], which was commissioned by
Hoofdadministrateur Daniel Burnat. By then, the decorated cannon had already been shipped to the
Netherlands (on 15 November 1765), as the late Governor Van Eck had wished. It was sent as a gift
to Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the guardian of Willem V. On 13 May 1766 the
headquarters of the VOC in Batavia gave permission to send the Kandyan objects that were left of
Van Eck’s estate to his heirs, provided that court in Kandy would not demand restitution. 52 Two
objects from this list, namely, the Cover of the Tooth of Buddha (the silver-gilded machine) and the
accompanying howdah (the canopy) were indeed returned in 1767 to the king of Kandy as a result
the peace negotiations. 53 The golden container with golden ola was returned to the ‘owner’ from
whom Van Eck had taken it, because e had never paid for it as he had promised. 54 In 1768 there were
51 ‘Zegge een goude koker daer in een goude ola benevens een zakje met goude bolletjes

daaraan
1. ‘’ Een Boedoes beeld van Tambak
1. ‘’ Een ijvoore machine van onder met een metaale schijff, waar in gegraveert is
1. ‘’ Een kleen kanonstuk met zilver ingelegt
1. Zegge een fraaij gewerkte boog met goud beslag, benevens gelijke pijlkoke en pijlen
1. ‘’ Een zwaart met goude greep en dies scheede met goud beslag mitsgaders part epee met
zilver beslagh
1. ‘’ Een staff van kommando met rood verlakt en aan beide enden met goud beslag
1. ‘’ Een fraai gewerkte buijksteeker met goud beslag
1. ‘’ Een zilver vergulde machine bij wijze van een klok met een daar onder passend onderstuk
1. ‘’ Een soort van verhemelte met pielaaren van goud dogh overhouts met een goud en zilver
overtoogen.’
NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, inv.no. 3138, “Copia berigt van de Candiasche raritijten die in de groote geldkas overgebragt zijn” [Copy of message
about the Kandyan curiosities that has been handed over to the big cash register], f. 875.
52 SLNA, Lot 1, inv.no 2232, "Correspondense with Batavia and Holland 1766-1767,” dated 13 May 1766.
53 NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, inv.no. 3174, "Instructie voor den oppercoopman en secretaris van politie Van Angelbeek in dato 28 Januarij 1767
gaande als gesant naar 't hof van Candia” [Instruction for the chief merchant and the secretary of the police Van Angelbeek dated 28
January 1767, who went as an ambassador to the Kandyan court], f. 1454b-1455.
54 NL-HaNA, 1.10.65.01, inv.no. 66, "Inventarissen van de nagelaten goederen van Lubbert Jan van Eck etc.” [Inventories of thee state of
Lubbert Jan van Eck etc.], dated 20 March 1769.

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
six objects left described as “curiosities that were found [gevonden] during the conquest of the
Palace of the King of Kandy and looted [buitgemaakt].” These were sent to the heirs of Van Eck on
the ship Vrouwe Petronella Maria in a box with the initials VE. 55 .
It is important to underline here that there is no mention at all of a silver sword or kasthāné in the
listed spoils of war in the estate of Van Eck. How then have researchers in the past connected the
silver kasthāné to war and the estate of Van Eck? First, it appears from the notes from 2008 in the
documentation folder of the Rijksmuseum that a connection was made between the silver kasthāné
and the “fine decorated ‘belly-dagger’ with golden mounting.” This appears odd for two reasons: the
kasthāné is silver rather than gold; and, as discussed above, the word buiksteker translates as knife,
rather than sabre. The common word used in the VOC period for a sabre or sword was houwer. Yet
as was already, mentioned at an earlier moment, the silver kasthāné had been connected to another
object that appears in the estate of Van Eck, namely a silver mounted ‘buiksteker’. 56 Clearly, object
descriptions from the Van Eck family archive got mixed up here. In fact, it seems that at a certain
point this confusion led to the belief that they were one and the same, the golden mounted belly
dagger from the description of the spoils of war and the silver mounted belly dagger from Van Eck’s
family papers, and furthermore that these are actually descriptions of the silver kasthāné. 57
While the initial list of 22 October 1765 does not contain a reference to a silver belly-dagger, the
estate of Van Eck that was drawn up later does indeed include a silver-hilted ‘belly-dagger’. 58
Additional information was added in the document: namely, that this weapon had been used by “a
certain Moor” who had been bribed by Kandy to attack Van Eck. “A belly-dagger with silver mounting
being the instrument with which a Moor, being bribed by the enemies in Kandy attempted to take

55 NL-HaNA, 1.04.02, inv.no. 3200, "Origineele missive van den gouverneur Falck en den raad

aan de vergadering van 17 in dato 27 Januarij 1768” [Original letter from the Governor Falck and Boards [in Colombo] to the Council 17,
dated 27 January 1768], f. 262. ‘[V]an de Hooge indische Regeering, bij sekreete Missive van den 13 Mai
1766 voor de erfgenaemen afgegeeven de volgende Rariteiten bij het veroveren van het Palijs des konings van kandia daar in gevonden en
buit gemaekt.'
56 “Een buiksteeker met silver beslag zijnde een instrument waarmeede seeker Moor van de vijanden omgecogt in Candia het op het
Leeven van den overleeden had toegelegt.” NL-HaNA, 1.10.65.01, inv.no. 60. 1, “Brieven betreffende overlijden en regeling der
nalatenschap van Lubbert Jan van Eck, heer van Overbeek, gouverneur van Ceylon, door de executeurs van diens testament te Colombo
aan de erfgenamen gericht. Met bijlagen.” [Letters regarding the death and settlement of the estate of Lubbert Jan van Eck, Lord of
Overbeek, Governor of Ceylon, addressed to the heirs by the executors of his will in Colombo. With attachments], attachment with
inventory of estate of Van Eck, dated 10 November 1765.
57 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, file with object information NG-NM-7114, D004812. Documentation by Eveline Sint Nicolaas, Curator of
History Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2008.
58 However, on that list, on which all objects from the Kandyan booty are marked with the letter A, are described as “A fine decorated
belly-stabber with golden mounting” just as in the list of spoils of war made in Colombo. The “silver mounted belly dagger” is marked with
an F and may have taken a different route into the estate in comparison to the objects marked “A”. NL-HaNA, 1.10.65.01, “Inventaris van
het archief van de familie Van Panthaleon van Eck, 1398-1946” [Inventory of the family archive of Van Panthaleon van Eck, 1398-1946],
Inv.no. 60. 1, “Brieven betreffende overlijden en regeling der nalatenschap van Lubbert Jan van Eck, heer van Overbeek, gouverneur van
Ceylon, door de executeurs van diens testament te Colombo aan de erfgenamen gericht. Met bijlagen.” [Letters regarding the death and
settlement of the estate of Lubbert Jan van Eck, Lord of Overbeek, Governor of Ceylon, addressed to the heirs by the executors of his will in
Colombo. With attachments], attachment with inventory of estate of Van Eck, dated 10 November 1765.

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
the life of the deceased.” 59 This story regarding the attack on Van Eck is recorded in his own military
diary, which served as the basis for popular publications on the war at the time and the episode may
thus have been known to the family. 60 The description of this event in Van Eck’s Diary of the 1765
campaign gives us insight in the unfortunate encounter 9 February 1765: it mentions his encounter
with a traitor, described as “a Moor” [muslim trader]. This person approached Van Eck, telling him
that he had a gift for Van Eck from the king and ‘he then drew a stylet with such a wild look that Van
Angelbeek (who was there with van Eck) suspected ill, and while pretending to be curious, he took
and kept it.’ 61 In the Kandyan kingdom small pihiya were also used as stylets for writing olas, and
thus this is what the ‘buiksteker’ in the inventory would refer to. An example of what this might
have looked like is the silver Kandyan knife in the NMvW collection (RV-360-6017 and 6019). 62
Clearly this is a very different object from a kasthāné, both in size and in shape
In other words, the hypothesis that NG-NM-7112 has been in possession of Governor Van Eck is not
easy to substantiate with archival sources. The list of spoils of war from Kandy owned by Van Eck
does not make mention of a silver kasthāné, sword, or sabre, and the silver belly-dagger mentioned
in his estate must have been a knife (pihiya) rather than a kasthāné, and was made for a different
purpose. Which route did NG-NM-7112 then take into the collection of the Rijksmuseum?

The unrecorded arrival of the golden kasthāné in the collection of the Dutch Stadtholder
Our analysis of the history Van Eck’s estate showed that it is unlikely that the silver kasthāné was
among the Kandyan objects that arrived in the Dutch Republic in 1768. This means that it would not
have followed the same trail into the stadtholder’s collection as either Lewke’s cannon or the golden
kasthāné. We have therefore tried to reconstruct the moment of the kasthāné’s arrival in the
collection of the Stadtholders: first through an analysis of the eighteenth century inventories of this
collection and second by searching for correspondence with the heirs of Van Eck in the years after
the arrival of the kasthāné and the other objects from his estate.
Our search through the eighteenth-century inventories of the collection of Stadtholders Willem IV
and Willem V did not yield any result. 63 In fact, none of the other five Kandyan objects were found in
59 “Een buiksteeker met silver beslag zijnde een instrument waarmeede seeker Moor van de vijanden omgecogt in Candia het op het

Leeven van den overleeden had toegelegt.” NL-HaNA, 1.10.65.01, inv.no. 60. 1, “Brieven betreffende overlijden en regeling der
nalatenschap van Lubbert Jan van Eck, heer van Overbeek, gouverneur van Ceylon, door de executeurs van diens testament te Colombo
aan de erfgenamen gericht. Met bijlagen.” [Letters regarding the death and settlement of the estate of Lubbert Jan van Eck, Lord of
Overbeek, Governor of Ceylon, addressed to the heirs by the executors of his will in Colombo. With attachments], attachment with
inventory of estate of Van Eck, dated 10 November 1765.
60
See for example: Middelburgse courant 13-5 1766: "slot van het dagverhaal der generale expeditie tegen de koning van Candia”
(accessed via delpher.nl)
61 Raven-Hart, The Dutch Wars with Kandy, 92; SLNA, Lot 1, inv.no. 4881, “Report of the military campaign,” f. 223’. ‘De Koning had hem
honderd fijne kleedjes en honderd zilvere buiksteekers of messen geschonken, waarvan hij niet meer, als een kleedje geaccepteerd had als
mede maar een mes dat hij tans noch droeg en ter zelver tijd niet zulx een houding en wild gezicht uithaelde, dat de sekretarus Angelbeeck
voor eenig boos opzet duchtend het zelve, onder schijn van enkelde nieuwsgierigheid, van hem af vroeg en bij zich behield.’
62 During our research we came across a silver Kandyan knife that might be identified Ul Pihiya. Interestingly, it appears that it also has a
provenance related to the stadtholders’ collection, and we have wondered whether there is a relation to the knife in the estate of Van Eck,
but no provenance research has been done so far: see NMvW Museum Volkenkunde RV-360-6017 and 6019 (knife and sheath). RV-3603018 was described as a “priem,” possibly referring to a stylus that accompanied the knife in the manner described above, but it appears to
have been lost in the collection or to have disappeared.
63 Koninklijke Verzamelingen [Royal Collections] (NL-KaHV), A, William IV, prince of Orange, ruler of Nassau (1711-1751), inv.no. 46 III,
‘Bekorte Staat en Inventaris van het Kabinet der Natuurlijke en door Kunstgemaakte Zeldzaamheden…’ [Concise overview and inventory of
the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities]; NL-KaHV, A30, Anne of Hannover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland (1709-1759), inv.no.
415, ‘Inventaris der Rariteiten overgegeven in het Kabinet der Natuurlijke en door Kunstgemaakte Zeldzaamheden, berustende onder de
bewaaring van den Directeur Vosmaer’ [Inventory of curiosities transferred to the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities, residing under

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
these eighteenth century inventories either, including Lewke’s cannon. At this point it is important
to stress once more that the arrival of objects in the collection of the stadtholders is not recorded in
a very systematic manner. Furthermore, documentation on the collection is scattered and not
completely preserved. Available sources have been brought together by Laura Smeets. 64 The
descriptions on the various inventory lists made in 1759 and 1760 (three in total) of the stadtholders’
artefact(s) regarding the weapons are very generic as are the later inventories. This makes it
impossible to eliminate or assign descriptions. For example, in the “curiosities” section of the 1759
list we find an “Indian sabre, with its scabbard and hilt mounted with silver.” Could this be the silver
kasthāné? 65 Before any conclusions might be drawn based on such generic descriptions, further
research into the collection and collection history is necessary. And at this point this does not
substantiate a conclusion that NG-NM-7112 arrived in the collection of the stadtholders before 1765.
Because the descriptions of the objects in the estate of Van Eck are so generic, and because of the
longstanding tradition in Kandy of bestowing diplomatic gifts to governors and governor generals, we
also looked more broadly into the Stadtholder’s correspondence regarding objects arriving from Asia.
The cabinet consisted of the collection that Willem V and his wife, Wilhelmine of Prussia, inherited
from Willem IV and his wife, Anna van Hannover. The acquisitions made subsequently reflect their
personal tastes, while the objects they received as gifts reflect their relations, networks, and sociopolitical positions. A considerable part of Willem V’s cabinet was formed by gifts from the territories
exploited by the West India and Dutch East India Companies. 66 Indeed the archive of Willem V does
show several instances of donations of art-historical and natural-historical objects, as well as
weapons and other personal belongings to the stadtholders. Several letters from or about GovernorGeneral P.A. van de Parra (1761-1775) inform us for example that he donated a great variety of
objects, including weapons, to the collection of Willem V and also to the family of the stadtholders
themselves. 67 Yet, there was no silver kasthāné among them or anything that might resemble it.

the custodianship of director Vosmaer]; NL-KaHV, A30, inv.no. 415, ‘Nadere Inventaris benevens derselver bij gevoegde taxatie van de
Rariteiten overgegeven in het Kabinet der Natuurlijk en door Kunst gemaekte Zeldsaemheeden…’ [Further inventory along with the
associated valuation of the Curiosities transferred to the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities…]; NL-KaHV, archive access A31, William
V Batavus, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806), inv.no. 173, Inventarissen van kleding, sieraden, linnen en zeldzaamheden [Inventories of
clothing, jewellery, linen and curiosities], dated 1749-1766; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 184, Inventaris van de kostbaarheden van Willem V in
bewaring bij de kamerdienaar Oostheim, vervaardigd door A. Vosmaer [Inventory of precious items belonging to William V held in
safekeeping by chamberlain Oostheim, drawn up by A. Vosmaer], 1782; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 185, ‘Lijsten van in januari 1795
meegenomen gouden en zilveren tafelgoed, schilderijen en kleding’ [Lists of the golden and silver tableware, paintiings and clothing that
were taken along] dated 1795-1798; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 186, ‘Briefwisseling tussen W.C. Vosmaer en Willem V over restanten van de
stadhouderlijke collecties die naar Duitsland verzonden kunnen worden’ [Correspondence between W.C. Vosmaer and Willem V on what
was left of the stadtholder’s collection that could be shipped to Germany] dated 1803.
Also consultation of the inventory of the Vosmaer family did not give any result. The following numbers are part of the section of Arnout
Vosmaer as director of the stadholder’s cabinets. NL-HaNA, 2.21.271 ‘Inventaris van het archief van de familie Vosmaer’ [Inventory of the
archive of the Vosmaer family], inv. no. 63-67.
64 Laura Smeets, “Door kunst gemaakt. De verzameling zeldzaamheden van Stadhouder Willem V,” (MA Thesis, University of Amsterdam,
2010).
65 NL-KaHV, A29, William IV, Prince of Orange, ruler of Nassau (1711-1751), inv.no. 46 III, ‘Bekorte Staat en Inventaris van het Kabinet der
Natuurlijke en door Kunstgemaakte Zeldzaamheden…’ [Summarised status and inventory of the Cabinet of Natural and Artistic Rarieties]
Een Indiaansche zabel, de scheede en greep met zilver gemonteerd.’
66 Edwin Van Meerkerk, “Colonial Objects And The Display Of Power. The Curious Case Of The Cabinet Of William V And The Dutch India
Companies,” in The Dutch Trading Companies as Knowledge Networks, ed. Siegfried Huigen, Elmer Kolfin, and Jan L. de Jong (Brill, 2010):
415-416: 422.
67
See for example, NL-KaHV, A31, William V Batavus, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806), Inv. No. 1798, P.A. van de Parra 1767-1775,
dated 27 July 1772; NL-KaHV, A31, William V Batavus, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806), Inv. No. 1799, J. van Riemsdijk 1776-1777.

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
As a final step in our search for evidence regarding the arrival of the kasthāné in the collection of the
Stadtholder, we looked at contemporary descriptions of the display at the Cabinet for Curiosities.
The cabinet can be considered as the first public museum in the Netherlands. The cabinet attracted
many visitors.
Indeed we found that Kandyan objects do appear in a written account from the German traveller Carl
Heinrich Titius from 1777. When Titius visited the Cabinet of Curiosities of Willem V, he explicitly
mentioned that he saw a silver cannon with gemstones, and noted that the cannon was taken by the
Dutch in their last war with the king of Kandy. No doubt this refers to NG-NM-1015 (see report).
Titius further remarked that other weapons are exhibited in that same room. 68 He did not further
elaborate on those other weapons. Nevertheless, a guide from 1785 on the museum of with the
collection of Stadtholder Willem V, described yet another room that was filled with armour, clothing,
and other ornaments from inhabitants of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), other Indian countries, and
China. 69
To conclude, the estate of Van Eck does not list any object (that could possibly be identified as the
silver kasthāné. Furthermore, We have explained though that this by no means excludes the option
that it was gifted after the war to the Willem V for the simple reason that the archival recording of
objects in the possession of the Dutch stadtholder was incomplete. The eyewitness accounts reveal
that the curator of the Cabinet made explicit reference to the Kandyan-Dutch war and that besides
Lewke’s cannon, other armour from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was at display at the time.

When was the object first recorded and what route did it make through the Dutch
collections ?
The archival silences regarding the arrival of the silver kasthāné in the collection of the Dutch
Stadtholder urged us to further scrutinize the museum documentation. In this section we focus on
two questions: when was the object first recorded as part of a Dutch collection? And what route did
it take through the collection? Our method was to work backwards in time through the museum
documentation, this exercise included the decoding of the somewhat complex historical numbering
of the object.
The Rijksmuseum as it exists now was built in 1885 and it incorporated the collections of various
national museums that had been established over the course of the nineteenth century. These
predecessors of the Rijksmuseum were in turn founded on older collections, such as the eighteenth
century Cabinet of Curiosities of the Dutch Stadtholder Willem V. In this section we will trace the
route that the silver kasthāné took through the various museums and collections, before it arrived in
the Rijksmuseum. We focus on two questions. What knowledge was available at the time about the
provenance of the silver kasthāné? And when was the object first recorded as part of a Dutch
collection?
68 Carl Heinrich Titius from 1777 cited by Johann Jacob Volkmann, Neueste Reisen durch die vereinigten Niederlande (Den Caspar Fritsch,

Leipzig, 1783). "In zweeten saale ist unter den kunstsachen eine ganz silberne kanone mit golde ubersogen, graviert, und mit edelgesteinen
besezt, welche die Hollander in ihren lesten kriege, met den koninge von Candi erbeutet haben, und viele andre sehr kostbare Waffen.”
See also, Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer “Het Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden en zijn beteekenis voor het Rijksmuseum,” Oudheidkundig
Jaarboek, 13 (1946).
69
Guide ou nouvelle description de La Haye et de ses environs (’s-Gravenhage, 1785), 257
https://www.delpher.nl/nl/boeken/view?coll=boeken&identifier=dpo:5469:mpeg21:0250.

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
The unravelling of this part of the kasthāné’s history starts with the object number that is assigned to
it: one of the collections that the Rijksmuseum housed from the start was that of the Nederlandsch
Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst (Dutch Museum for History and Art) and this is what the NM in
the object number of NG-NM-7112 stands for. In 1927 the objects from this collection were
incorporated in the Rijksmuseum and became part of the Dutch History collection, Nederlandse
Geschiedenis, hence the additional NG. 70
The information on the inventory card is fairly basic and provides us with the following information:
Kris with a solid silver hilt, the knob of which is shaped like a dragon, in a sheath covered with silver
leaf. South-east Asian [Achter-Indië] Length 60.5 Sheath 49 cm.
From the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden No. 6025.

At a later moment, the following provenance information was added:
On loan Koloniaal Instituut. Received back in 1937.
And in 1816 transferred by King Willem I to the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden. 71

At the time, this inventory card of the Nederlandsch Museum the silver kasthāné was associated with
“Achter-Indië,” which was commonly used to refer to mainland Southeast Asia. This allocation
remained uncorrected on the inventory card when the other information was added. In the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, knowledge of Kandy armour and craftsmanship was
apparently absent at the museum. For example, at the time the golden kasthāné was interpreted as
Malay. 72
The silver kasthāné had been transferred to the Nederlandsch Museum from the Koninklijk Kabinet
van Zeldzaamheden (KKZ) in 1885, together with the golden dagger. Other Sri Lankan objects, such as
Levke’s cannon and the golden kasthāné, had already been transferred in 1875 as they had been
interpreted by mistake as former possessions of Dutch national hero to Michiel de Ruyter. 73 In 1885
the Asiatic objects from that collection were distributed between the Nederlandsch Museum and
‘s Rijks Etnografisch Museum (NMvW Museum Volkenkunde). However, from this collection a
specific group of objects were allocated to the Nederlandsch Museum to illustrate the ceremonial
function of Stadtholder Willem V as highest director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The
silver kasthāné was one of these objects. 74
What do we know about the history of the silver kasthāné during the time it was kept in the
Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden? Correspondence between Professor Lunsingh Scheurleer and
70

Jan van Campen et al., Aziatische kunst (Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2014): 8-11.

71 Inventory card Rijksmuseum Amsterdam NG-NM-7112: “Kris met massief zilveren gevest, waarvan de knop als een draak, in eene

bladzilveren overtrokken scheede. Achter Indie. Lengte 60.5 Scheede 49. eM. Afkomstig van het KON. Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden No.
6025 In bruikleen Kol. Instituut. In 1937 terug ontvangen. En in 1816 door Koning Willem I aan het Kon. Kab. van Zeldzaamheden
overgedragen.”
72 See Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart, PPROCE reports NG-NM-560 and NG-NM-7114.
73 NL-HlmNHA, 476, 6. Archief van het Nederlandsch Museum van Geschiedenis en Kunst [Archive of the Nederlandsch Museum van
Geschiedenis en Kunst], inv.no. 1092, "Inventaris van kunstvoorwerpen, door het ontvangen van het” [Inventory of artpieces, received by
the Nederlandsch Museum van Geschiedenis en Kunst from the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden], 1875.
74 Jan van Campen, Aziatische kunst, 11

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
the Director of the Rijksmuseum van Volkenkunde (now part of Museum van Wereldculturen), P.H.
Pott, from 1966 reveals more about the background of NG-NM-7112 in the collection of the
Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden. Pott noticed that the numbers 6014-6029 in the catalogue
were (almost) completely copied from the list of the objects King Willem I transmitted to the KKZ
from his father’s collection. Some of these ended up in the museum Volkenkunde, while others went
to the Rijksmuseum. Pott was able to trace back almost all of the numbers from the list in the two
museums. In the Rijksmuseum these were renumbered, ranging from NM-7053 to -7121. 75 And so,
number 6026 in the KKZ became NM-7114 in the Nederlandsch Museum. In fact, all the KKZ numbers
6014-6029, have a colonial Asian background. 76
In 1878 KKZ number 6025 was described as follows:
A sabre with a massive silver hilt, the stud being dragon headed, in a sheath like the latter [that is, a
sheath covered with thin silver]. 77

The silver kasthāné, golden pihiya, and the golden kasthāné were not the only Kandyan/Sri Lankan
objects in the collection of the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden. In fact, it appears that these
objects were registered together in the KKZ collection as if belonging to a group of objects. Over the
course of the nineteenth century, their Sri Lankan provenance was forgotten, but in 1823 this was
not yet the case: the contemporary director of the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, R.P. Van
de Kasteele, then described that desk 13 in the fourth room presented a range of Asiatic objects.
Among them were a treatise in Sinhalese and a decorative belt with a snake motif, worn by the
people of Ceylon. 78 R.P. van der Kasteele, first director of the KKZ, explicitly stated that these objects
originated from the Cabinet of Stadtholder Willem V. On desk 15 in the same hall, the objects were
exhibited which we now identify as the golden kasthāné together with the silver kasthāné, the
golden pihiya, and another Kandyan knife which is now in the Wereldculturen collection (or: NG-NM560, 7112, -7114 and RV-360-6017). In addition, two olas (palm leaf manuscripts) with Tamil and
Sinhalese script where exhibited together with a copper plate with Sinhalese letters and an “Eastern
writing pen,” presumably a stylus, used to write on the palm leaves. 79 A conclusion we can draw from
these records is that the silver kasthāné was exhibited as part of a group of objects that originated
from Sri Lanka. Over time, however, the knowledge about this group of objects had faded.
The silver kasthāné seems to be one of the objects transferred from the royal collections by Willem I
to the Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden in 1816: the descriptions of numbers 6014-6029 on the inventory
list of the KKZ of 1878, were a direct copy of the descriptions on the list of transferal of 1816 by King
Willem I. 80

75 Museum Volkenkunde (NL-LdnRMV), Archive series 360, letter from P.H. Pott to T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, 9 September 1966.

Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer, "Twee Oosterse Sieraden Uit de Stadhouderlijke Verzameling,” Bulletin van Het Rijksmuseum 44 (1996): 15–
26. Other examples from this series are the jewels of Steyn van Gollenesse and two jewels with an unknown provenance have been
researched before by Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer.
77 "Een sabel met massief zilveren gevest, waarvan de knop als een draak gevorm is, als in een scheede als een vorige.” NL-HlmNHA, 476,
inv.nos. 876-877, “Inventarissen van kunst- en andere voorwerpen, 1878-1882 876” [Inventories of art pieces and other objects] no. 6025.
78 R.P. Van de Kasteele, Handleiding tot de bezichtiging van het Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden op Maurtishuis, in ’s Gravenhage
(The Hague, n.d. [1824], 97-101. ‘‘Eene onbegrijpelijk kunstige van zilverdraad gevlochten slang, de kop en de staat schijnen daar
naderhand aangemaakt te zijn; zonder deze is het een versiersel van een volk op Ceilon, wordende als een gordel om het lijf gedragen,
wanneer aan de einde sluitingstukken zijn. Weegt 5 ons, 16 eng. Of 268,411 wig.” We have not yet identified this object in the collection.
79 Ibid.
80 This is what P.H. Pott also concluded in 1966.
76

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart
The “List of objects transferred to the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities in The Hague on the orders of King
William I,” number 183.10 has the following description:
A sabre with a solid silver handle, the knob of which is shaped like a dragon, in a sheath covered with
lofty decorated silver fittings. 81

The original copy of this list is kept in the National Archives and it contains objects from the
collection of Willem V that Van de Kasteele had received from de hofraad Hoffman. According to Jan
van Campen, this list referred to the objects that Willem V took with him to England when he was
exiled in 1795. 82 However, Tom Quist has suggested that this list is a copy of Hoffman’s inventory on
the weapons and walking sticks, written in German. In the view of Tom Quist, the listed stayed at
Oranienstein Castle. 83 This had been the residence of Willem V since 1801. We have not been able to
obtain further information on this question, but in any case it is very likely that the silver kasthāné
and other objects on the German-language list were transferred to England or Germany or both and
returned to the Netherlands in the period 1813-1816 when the monarchy was established, with
Willem V’s son, Willem I. From the museum documentation we can thus conclude that the golden
silver kasthāné must have entered into the collection of Willem V at any moment prior to his exile in
England and Germany in 1795. 84
As discussed above we have not been able to identify the silver kasthāné in the eighteenth-century
inventories of the collection of the stadtholders Willem IV and Willem V that are kept in the Royal
Archives (Koninklijk Huis Archief). 85 This is where the archival trail through the museum
documentation and collection inventories ends.

“Een Sabel met een massiev zilver handvatsel waarvan de knop, gelijk een draak gevormd is, in eene met verheven bewerkt zilver beslag
overtrokkene schede.” NL-HlmNHA, 476, inv.no. 843, “Lijst van voorwerpen op last van Koning Willem I overgedragen aan het Kon. Kab. v.
Zeldzaamheden te ’s-Gravenhage” [List of objects transferred to the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities in The Hague on the orders of King William
I], 1816.
82 Jan van Campen, De Haagse jurist Jean Theodore Royer (1737-1807) en zijn verzameling Chinese voorwerpen (Uitgeverij Verloren, 2000):
215.
83 See Tom Quist, PPROCE report Provenance report Staatsiekris (RV-360-6021).
84 This stay rejects the thesis of in the Rijksmuseum documentation that NG-NM-7112 as well as NG-NM-560 were the two weapons that,
like NG-NM-1015 (Cannon of Kandy), were presented as one of the five objects, the “vaderlandsche gedenkstukken” to the new Batavian
Parliament, as symbols for a new Netherlands in 1795. Among them was the sabre of Michiel de Ruyter and a cannon ascribed to the
Ruyter. The cannon can be identified as NG-NM-1015 (see report), but the sabre cannot be linked to NG-NM-7112. See also: Van Luttervelt,
“Herinneringen Aan Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter,” 36.
85 Koninklijke Verzamelingen [Royal Collections] (NL-KaHV), A, William IV, prince of Orange, ruler of Nassau (1711-1751), inv.no. 46 III,
‘Bekorte Staat en Inventaris van het Kabinet der Natuurlijke en door Kunstgemaakte Zeldzaamheden…’ [Concise overview and inventory of
the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities]; NL-KaHV, A30, Anne of Hannover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland (1709-1759), inv.no.
415, ‘Inventaris der Rariteiten overgegeven in het Kabinet der Natuurlijke en door Kunstgemaakte Zeldzaamheden, berustende onder de
bewaaring van den Directeur Vosmaer’ [Inventory of curiosities transferred to the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities, residing under
the custodianship of director Vosmaer]; NL-KaHV, A30, inv.no. 415, ‘Nadere Inventaris benevens derselver bij gevoegde taxatie van de
Rariteiten overgegeven in het Kabinet der Natuurlijk en door Kunst gemaekte Zeldsaemheeden…’ [Further inventory along with the
associated valuation of the Curiosities transferred to the Cabinet of natural and artistic curiosities…]; NL-KaHV, archive access A31, William
V Batavus, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806), inv.no. 173, Inventarissen van kleding, sieraden, linnen en zeldzaamheden [Inventories of
clothing, jewellery, linen and curiosities], dated 1749-1766; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 184, Inventaris van de kostbaarheden van Willem V in
bewaring bij de kamerdienaar Oostheim, vervaardigd door A. Vosmaer [Inventory of precious items belonging to William V held in
safekeeping by chamberlain Oostheim, drawn up by A. Vosmaer], 1782; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 185, ‘Lijsten van in januari 1795
meegenomen gouden en zilveren tafelgoed, schilderijen en kleding’ [Lists of the golden and silver tableware, paintiings and clothing that
were taken along] dated 1795-1798; NL-KaHV, A31, inv.no. 186, ‘Briefwisseling tussen W.C. Vosmaer en Willem V over restanten van de
stadhouderlijke collecties die naar Duitsland verzonden kunnen worden’ [Correspondence between W.C. Vosmaer and Willem V on what
was left of the stadtholder’s collection that could be shipped to Germany] dated 1803.
Also consultation of the inventory of the Vosmaer family did not give any result. The following numbers are part of the section of Arnout
Vosmaer as director of the stadholder’s cabinets. NL-HaNA, 2.21.271 ‘Inventaris van het archief van de familie Vosmaer’ [Inventory of the
archive of the Vosmaer family], inv. no. 63-67.
81

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Pilotproject Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era (PPROCE), March 2022
Provenance report regarding Kastane met schede (NG-NM-7112)
Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart

Discussion
Despite extensive archival research, we have not succeeded in fully reconstructing the provenance
history of the silver kasthāné. What is clear however is that NG-NM-7112 is a kasthāné from Kandy of
outstanding craftsmanship, that was made in the royal Four Workhops (pattal hatara) most likely as
part of the personal ceremonial attire of one of the higher aristocrats at the court. We also establish
that the silver kasthāné was probably already in the collection of stadtholder Willem V at the end of
the eighteenth century.
The archival documentation does not allow us to reliably deduce that the kasthāné was among Van
Eck’s spoils of war. At least, it does not occur on the list of ten objects from Kandy in his possession,
nor in his estate. Thus, the questions that linger are how, when, and why did it arrive in the
collection? These are more difficult to answer. Below, we provide a discussion based on our archival
research and present different possible routes, but in each case the evidence remains scanty and
circumstantial.
As discussed above, the archival documentation on the conquest of Kandy of 1765 shows that many
objects were taken from the palace and the temple. Some of these arrived in Colombo and were
traded locally or stayed in private hands. But certainly not all objects were recorded at the time. For
example, we found that twenty years after the war a drinking bowl from the Kandyan king was still in
possession of a VOC officer on the island. 86 Another example is the arrival of “vier grote Candiase
geweren” (“four large Kandyan weapons”) as gifts to the stadtholder from Batavia (probably from
the Governor General) in 1767. These guns are not mentioned among the spoils of war, but we
assume that there provenance is related to the war as they made their way to Batavia apparently
soon after. 87 Thus, the fact that we have not been able to identify the silver kasthāné among the
estate of Van Eck does not mean that the silver kasthāné could not have been taken from the Royal
Palace in Kandy during the siege. However, a provenance as being bought, or gifted from an
Kandyan noblemen to a VOC employee –- cannot be entirely excluded on the basis of similar
contextual evidence. 88
An ultimate point that bears emphasis is that for over fifty years now the Rijksmuseum has
maintained that the silver kasthāné was part of the spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war. Together with
the cannon, the golden kasthāné, and the gold mounted knife, they have come to symbolise the
moment of plunder and destruction of the Kandyan palace. This in itself has thus become an
important part of the object’s history.

86 Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, NG-1985-7-2-24, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-1985-7-2-24
87 See: Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart, PPROCE report NG-NM-519 and 520.

88 Cf. Lunsingh Scheurleer, “Twee Oosterse Sieraden,” 15–26; Van Campen and Hartkamp-Jonxis, Aziatische Weelde, 86. The latter writes

about a servant of a VOC employee who had bought kasthāné in Sri Lanka as a gift for two collectors in Groningen. Unfortunately, the
authors could not provide us with a reference to the archival source.; During the PPROCE research a start was made with mapping the
culture of gift-giving between the VOC and Kandy in the 1740s and 1750s, as well as to what happened to the objects after they were in
VOC hands. A draft document ‘Gift giving, Embassies and Collections’ will be available in the documentation folder of this object from April
2022. An elaboration on this research went beyond the objectives of the PPROCE research, but future research on the practice of gift
giving, flows of gifts, as well as the afterlives of these Kandyan gifts in Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and the rest of the world could provide
more insight. The draft documents can be consulted as a starting point for future research.

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