Rukmal De Silva’s wondrous book of Porcelain Painting

Pablo Picasso pronounced: “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary” and Rukmal De Silva’s book seems to be her diary recording places she lived in and beauty that struck her, conveyed to porcelain painting. Within the 54 pages of the large sized edition are exquisitely painted sets of porcelain crockery, jugs and vases, trinket boxes, spatulas and pot holders. On them are delicately coloured sparrows, blue tits and butterflies; roses in their variety, lotus, bougainvillea, autumn leaves; and fruits.

Ducks on the Thames; bright poppies from Windsor Great Park; agapanthus and dragon flies from the De Silva’s Windsor roof garden. Some are commissioned pieces; most painted for the mere joy of it. The pièce de résistance is on page 5: “Painted as a presentation to Princess Caroline of Monaco” – a large plate with children of the school Princess visited (and Rukmal taught) wearing their national dresses; outstandingly unique and apt.

Porcelain painting is far different fro

m painting on clay and needs great care in the firing of the painted product. She uses the best porcelain – Wedgwood, Limoge and Noritake. Using special, quick drying porcelain paints from Switzerland and Britain, she paints and then fires the items at a very high temperature for two hours in a special kiln. Then cooling is effected for at least 15-20 hours in the kiln which has been sealed during firing. If the kiln is opened well before due period of firing, objects would turn to powder; if later but still before the set time, they could crack. Thus a rough gauge of all the effort, care, skill and artistry that goes to painting porcelain.

This fine coffee table edition of very clear pictures, designed and printed by Aitken Spence, carries Rukmal’s choice of title – My Love of Porcelain Painting. Priced at Rs 2,000/- it is available at Barefoot Bookshop, Galle Road, Bambalapitiya.

– N P W

My family and I left Sri Lanka in March 1978 for Switzerland. From that time, until 1990, we lived in a little town outside Geneva – NYON – which had been a traditional place of porcelain painting. Here in this town, I learnt the art of porcelain painting under a few of the many teachers skilled in the craft. Since then, I have been engaged in porcelain painting, whenever time permits. We moved to Windsor in England in 1990, and lived there the next 25 years.

In Nyon and Geneva in Switzerland, and in Windsor, Marlow, High Wycombe and Maidenhead in England, I held exhibitions of my paintings. My porcelain painting was only a pastime, and never a career, as I was involved in many other activities. One of the highlights of my painting was the plate I painted specially for Princess Caroline of Monaco, to be presented to her when she visited the International School at La Gradelle in the early 1980s, where I was a teacher. The plate depicted the national dresses of the many nationalities represented in the school. One of the delights of this aspect of my life was visiting porcelain factories like Wedgwood and many others all over England, to purchase white porcelain.

I must thank Nanda Pethiyagoda for her assistance in compiling this book. I am grateful to my husband, Leelananda for his engagement in the production of this book. Above all, I must thank our daughter, Amalfi, for her continuous encouragement and good advice.

Rukmal De Silva. Colombo October 2020

Rukmal De Silva was born in Panadura. Her parents were Robert and Linda Violet Dias. She had her education at Ladies College, Colombo. She later joined St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo, where she pursued a course in Montessori education and obtained her diploma. She married Leelananda De Silva and they have one daughter, Amalfi. Rukmal had her own

Montessori School at Green Path, Colombo 7, in the 1970s. She was also actively engaged with the Lanka Mahila Samithi, especially looking after their preeducation activities. From 1978 to 1990, she lived in Nyon, Switzerland, and she learnt the craft of porcelain painting there. While in Geneva, she taught at the International School

of Geneva (primary section) located at La Gradelle. She was also the representative of the British-based Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) to the UN system in Geneva, in an honourary capacity. From 1990 to 2012, she lived in Windsor England, until shereturned to Sri Lanka.