Gold Kasthane
Object or Group Name
Gold Kasthane
Case Summary
This golden kasthane, a traditional ceremonial single-edged Sri Lankan sword, was likely produced in the mid-eighteenth century in the Kandyan royal workshops for the king. The highly ornamented kasthane has a gold hilt shaped with lion heads and deities, set with diamonds and rubies. The scabbard is wood coated in gold.
In 1765, during the Kandyan-Dutch War, troops from Dutch East India Company (VOC) invaded Kandry. The kasthane was among the loot taken back to Colombo, where it remained under the custody of Governor Iman Falck until 1768, when it was taken to the Netherlands. Its whereabouts from this period until 1816 are uncertain, but it is believed to have been in stadtholders' collections and taken to England and Germany by the exiled Willem V.
From 1816 it was in the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, the Hague, and shifted to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst in 1875. In 1927 it was deposited in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In the 1800s, the kasthane was misidentified as a Turkish sabre and from the collection of the Dutch naval commander, Michiel de Ruyter. As a result, the kasthane was separated from the other Kandyan objects and transferred to the Nederlansch Museum. In 1957, the kasthane was again misidentified as being Javanese in origin. In 1965, the kasthane was correctly catalogued as spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war.
In 2022, a consortium of Dutch institutions initiated the Pilot Project Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era project (PPROCE) to investigate the history of colonial objects in Dutch collections. The PPROCE’s provenance report on the kasthane established its true origins and theft from Sri Lanka. In 2023 it was repatriated to Sri Lanka together with five other weapons looted during the Kandyan-Dutch conflict: a silver kasthane, a gold dagger, two wall guns, and a cannon.
In 1765, during the Kandyan-Dutch War, troops from Dutch East India Company (VOC) invaded Kandry. The kasthane was among the loot taken back to Colombo, where it remained under the custody of Governor Iman Falck until 1768, when it was taken to the Netherlands. Its whereabouts from this period until 1816 are uncertain, but it is believed to have been in stadtholders' collections and taken to England and Germany by the exiled Willem V.
From 1816 it was in the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, the Hague, and shifted to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst in 1875. In 1927 it was deposited in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In the 1800s, the kasthane was misidentified as a Turkish sabre and from the collection of the Dutch naval commander, Michiel de Ruyter. As a result, the kasthane was separated from the other Kandyan objects and transferred to the Nederlansch Museum. In 1957, the kasthane was again misidentified as being Javanese in origin. In 1965, the kasthane was correctly catalogued as spoils of the Kandyan-Dutch war.
In 2022, a consortium of Dutch institutions initiated the Pilot Project Provenance Research on Objects of the Colonial Era project (PPROCE) to investigate the history of colonial objects in Dutch collections. The PPROCE’s provenance report on the kasthane established its true origins and theft from Sri Lanka. In 2023 it was repatriated to Sri Lanka together with five other weapons looted during the Kandyan-Dutch conflict: a silver kasthane, a gold dagger, two wall guns, and a cannon.
Number of Objects
1
Object Type
Equipment – weapons, helmets, tools, musical instruments
Culture
Kandyan
Museum Name
Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)
Museum Accession Number
NG-NM-560
Receiving Country
Sri Lanka
Sources
"Weapons of Persuasion: The Global Wanderings of Six Kandyan Objects", eds Alicia Schrikker and Doreen van den Boogaart (Colombo: Tambapanni Academic Publishers) 2023
https://web.archive.org/web/20260206035847/https://pure.knaw.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/488990689/RAP_PPROCE_ProvenanceReport_48_KastaneMetSchedeGoldenSabre_NG_NM_560_v10_202203.pdf
Rijksmuseum to Return Colonial Objects from its Collection for the First Time
https://web.archive.org/web/20260206051918/https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/press/press-releases/rijksmuseum-to-return-colonial-objects-from-its-collection-for-the-first-time
MOLA Contributor(s)
Lara Wijesuriya
Peer Reviewed By
Jason Felch
Lisa Duffy-Zeballos
Lisa Duffy-Zeballos
Citation
“Gold Kasthane,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed March 12, 2026, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/2856.