Cargills Building and the Strange Statue

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Cargills building in Colombo built in 1906

Cargills was established in 1844 as Milne & Co. in Kandy and was renamed Milne Cargills & Co. in 1850. When Colombo emerged as a key port, the company relocated its headquarters there while still maintaining its Kandy operations. It later rebranded as Cargills & Co and flourished during Sri Lanka’s (then Ceylon’s) coffee boom. However, the coffee industry collapsed in the late 19th century due to the devastating coffee rust disease, causing many related businesses to decline. Despite this, Cargills survived and transitioned into the island’s leading tea distributor. In 1896, the company was incorporated as a private limited liability firm under the name Cargills Ltd. (Wright, 1907/2004, p. 457, Cargills, 2024)

In 1981, Ceylon Theatres (currently known as CT Holdings PLC) gained majority ownership of Cargills, leading to the appointment of Albert A. Page as Managing Director. Subsequently, Page became the Chairman of Cargills on November 26, 1982.

History of Cargills Building in Colombo

The original building bore the date 1684. It has since made way for the elegant two storeyed departmental stores of Cargills and Millers of today. Construction of these, in British colonial architectural style, started in 1902 and was completed in 1906 source : The Real Ceylon

Cargills Ltd commenced the construction of its iconic two-story building in Colombo in 1902, completing it by 1906. Located at the intersection of York Street and Mudalige Mawatha (formerly Baillie Street), the site has a rich history. During the Dutch period, it was home to a mansion owned by Captain Pieter Sluyskens, the former Commander of the Dutch Fort of Galle (R. K. De Silva & Beumer, 1988).

When Frederick North, the first British Governor, arrived in 1798, he found no suitable residence and initially occupied Sluyskens’ house. However, as a young bachelor in his early thirties who enjoyed entertaining, North found the house “hot and confined” and soon relocated to a more spacious villa in Hulftsdorp (R. K. De Silva & Beumer, 1988).

After Captain Sluyskens’ death in 1813, the house—valued at 10,000 rix dollars—was sold for 5,325 rix dollars. By 1850, Milne and Cargills were using it as a warehouse (Pieris, 1945). Cordiner (1807, p. 52) described the house as “sufficiently spacious, but having only one floor, and being hot and confined due to the proximity of other buildings,” which contributed to North’s decision to move to Hulftsdorp.

In his book, The Real Ceylon (1924), Brooke Elliott recalls, “When I first came to Ceylon (in the early 1880s), Cargill’s business was still carried on in the old Dutch buildings with a curious wooden statue set high up in the gable…”

By 1906, Cargills had demolished the old structures and inaugurated its new iconic red color two-story building. At the time, this building was regarded as one of the finest of its kind east of Suez. It featured of hydraulic lifts and electric fans—a novelty in Sri Lanka in that era (Wright, 1907/2004, p. 457).

The Strange Statue inside Cargills Building in Colombo

The old statue now placed inside the Cargills building in Colombo

The Cargills Building in Colombo holds a fascinating mystery—an old wooden statue hidden within its structure. This mysterious statue has intrigued historians and visitors alike for decades. Beneath this lies a foundation stone marked 1684.

It is believed that this statue was originally placed in the gable of Captain Sluyskens’ house. When the house was demolished to make way for the new Cargills building, the statue, along with the foundation stone, was relocated and positioned between the brand-new hydraulic lifts of the Cargills building.

C. Brooke Elliott’s The Book of Ceylon describes this statue; “The statue, carved in some hardwood, probably represents Minerva, the Roman Goddess of war. I imagine that some Dutch official obtained it, possibly from a Dutch man-o-war, and set it up as the palladium on which the safety of Colombo depended. This interesting relic can still be seen, carefully preserved, on Messrs Cargills’ ground floor“

Minerva is a Roman goddess associated with wisdom, justice, law, and victory. She is also revered as a patron of the arts, trade, and strategic planning. Additionally, she holds significance as a goddess of warfare.

Brohier (2000) notes that one of the gables of Sluyskens’ old mansion featured an ornate figure, which some assumed to represent god Mars (the god of war and also an agricultural guardian of early Rome), depicted with a plumed helmet and holding a long spear. This figure was a fitting symbol for the residence of a high-ranking military officer. The inscription on it bore the year 1684.

References

Brohier, R. L. (2000). කොලොම්පුර පුරාවෘත්තය (translation of Changing Face of Colombo 1505-1972) (P. Edirisinghe, Trans.; 1st ed.). Visidunu Prakashakayo (Pvt) Ltd. (Original work published 1985)
Cargills. (2024, December 20). About – Cargills. Cargills – Cargills Ceylon. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://www.cargillsceylon.com/about-us/
Cordiner, J. (1807). 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 (Vol. 1). Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row and A. Brown, Aberdeen.
De Silva, R. K., & Beumer, W. G. M. (1988). Illustrations and views of Dutch Ceylon 1602-1796. Serendib Publications.
Elliott, C. B. (1938). The Real Ceylon (3rd ed.). H. W. Cave & Co. (Original work published 1924)
Kaluarachchi, S. (2004). කොළඹ පුරාණය (Ancient Colombo). Sooriya Publishers.
Pieris, P. E. (1945). 1814: Where Ahalepola Resided. The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 36(98), 81–86.
Wright, A. (2004). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources (1st ed.). Asian Educational Services. (Original work published 1907)

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