Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Antique Views of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

This category features original antique views and prints of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), offering visual records of the island’s landscapes, settlements and coastal approaches as documented in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ceylon’s natural beauty, strategic harbours and historic towns attracted interest from European travellers, surveyors and artists during periods of maritime trade and colonial engagement.

Many of the views originate from sketches made during exploratory, commercial or administrative expeditions, later reproduced as engravings and lithographs for atlases, travel accounts and illustrated publications. These works capture both the scenic environment and built environments—such as ports, forts, market towns and early infrastructure—reflecting the interactions of local and colonial worlds.

Antique views of Ceylon are valued for their historical content, scenic detail and the way they document the island’s place in broader trade networks and cross-cultural contact. As original works on paper, they provide collectors and historians with significant visual insight into Sri Lanka’s past.