Things Thai. Tanistha Dansilp
18–21). There is as much reason for not considering them Thai artefacts, but in the end we do because they were chosen by the court and filled a decorative need.
Just as we see with the silk industry (see pages 114–115), overseas production—principally Chinese—was much more sophisticated than that produced locally, and it made more sense for royalty and nobility to import these pieces made to their specification than to build the necessary skills at home. The market was, after all, fairly limited. Bencharong was Chinese export ware aimed at the Thai market, beginning in the Tang and the Ming dynasties.
A collection of bowls, jars and dishes in a display cabinet in the house of former prime minister and literary figure Kukrit pramoj.
While the technique was Chinese, with its precise designs, rich colors and high quality over-glaze, the name is from Sanskrit (from which Thai script derives). It refers to the five colors commonly used: panch, meaning five, and rang meaning color, reworked in the Thai idiom. The five colors were usually red, yellow, green, blue and black, although today some designs use up to eight. Bencharong ware requires several firings, the colored enamels being added over the glaze each time. Set against backgrounds of vine and other vegetal patterns, the central motifs were mainly praying divinities (thep) and mythological beasts such as the fanciful lions (singh), the half human, half bird kinnorn and kinnaree (male and female), and the garuda (krut).
Antique Bencharong large covered jars (toh) and small covered jars (toh prik) may have been used for sauces and soups and cosmetics or medicines respectively. Courtesy of the Jim thompson house museum.
A variety of Bencharong, known as Lai Nam Thong, refers to the addition of gold, particularly to the rims of bowls. This addition developed to meet an increasing taste for sumptuous, unrestrained designs. Indeed, later Bencharong tended to feature Chinese designs as well as techniques.
Bencharong is interesting for what it shows of Thai taste and cultural leanings in the 19th century—the first half of the Rattanakosin period—when it flourished. As in so much else in Thai art, we can see an increasing love of decoration from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya to Rattanakosin. More than this, Bencharong reflected a royal fascination with China and things Chinese that blossomed with the reign of King Rama II (1809–1824). His son, HRH Prince Chesdabodin, directed trade between the two countries, and parts of the Grand Palace testify to the strong Chinese influence. King Rama III (1824–1851) continued the absorption of Chinese art and design, much of which can be seen today in Wat Phra Kaeo, but the decision by the Emperor to reduce foreign trade led to a decline in Bencharong imports.
This revived somewhat in the reign of King Rama V, who ordered Lai Nam Thong tableware for the palace. However, at the same time, Rama V was forging new links with the West. Ultimately, it was the collapse of the Chinese Empire, coupled with a transfer of Thai taste to things European, that sealed the fate of Bencharong.
Styles change, and change again. Today, Bencharong is deemed too ornate for most contemporary tastes, but even so the workmanship cannot be faulted. There is now some modern production in Thailand, but it falls squarely under the heading of airport art, made for tourists, and bears little comparison with the genuine old article. What the old and the new do have in common, though, is that they were and are both export ware. The difference is that the originals were made by some great kilns for discriminating clients.
Gold Jewelry
khrueang thong
In 1957, pillagers uncovered the country’s richest treasure trove: a hoard of gold objects interred in the crypt below the 15th-century tower of Wat Ratchaburana in Ayutthaya. Although much had been lost, archaeologists from the Fine Arts Department managed to secure some 2,000 pieces, including a spectacular collection of gold regalia, ornaments and jewelry. Now on display at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum, the jewelry reveals the high level of gold workmanship, and the wealth associated with aristocratic life of the period. The gold button (opposite top), is one of these pieces.
The three necklaces shown here incorporate Ayutthayan gold work in modern assemblies, and all employ distinctively Thai design motifs. The leaf-shaped pendant, worked in a mixture of repoussée and chasing, (on left, above) is filled with wax to maintain its shape and detail, and is set with a single ruby. As remains customary, rubies (mined on the mainland principally in Burma, eastern Thailand and western Cambodia) were treated as cabochons, largely because of a regional preference for keeping as much of the weight of a gemstone as possible. The necklace on top right containing alternate gold and glass beads carries a solid engraved pendant representing a bai sema, the leaf-like standing boundary stone that is placed around the ordination hall in a monastery to mark the sacred space. The opaque blue-green beads are of Ban Chiang glass. The pendant on right, set with roughly faceted diamonds, is notable for its enameling: this technique normally using the three colors red, green and blue, as here, was developed in Ayutthaya.
Contemporary solid engraved pendant in the shape of a bai sema, the leaf-like standing boundary stone.
Modern necklace worked in a mixture of repoussée and chasing is leaf-shaped and set with a single ruby.
The manufacture of gold jewelry, however, did not begin in Ayutthaya. The Khmers, who controlled large parts of the country until the 13th century, certainly used gold, and pieces have been found at Sukhothai. The engraved slabs at Wat Si Chum in Sukhothai, illustrating the Jataka tales (which relate the previous lives of the historical Buddha), show figures wearing elaborate adornments, including necklaces and crowns. The 1292 inscription attributed to King Ramkamhaeng specifically allows free trade in silver and gold, although the wearing of gold was restricted by sumptuary laws to the nobility, and free use of gold ornamentation was allowed only from the mid-19th century, under King Rama V.
Antique gold button found in the crypt below the 15th-century tower of Wat ratchaburana in Ayutthaya, now on display at the Chao Sam phraya national Museum.
Modern pendant notable for its enameling.
Ayutthayan work was the high point in the history of gold jewelry. Nicholas Gervais, a French Jesuit missionary writing in the late 17th century was of the opinion that “Siamese goldsmiths are scarcely less skilled than ours. They make thousands of little gold and silver ornaments, which are the most elegant objects in the world. Nobody can damascene more delicately than they nor do filigree work better. They use very little solder, for they are so skilled at binding together and setting the pieces of metal that it is difficult to see the joints.”
Goldwork was revived under King Rama I in Bangkok after the defeat at Ayutthaya, and the enthusiasm of wealthy Thais for gold ornament was frequently noted by foreign visitors. Yet this very enthusiasm may ultimately have played a part in the decline of traditional Thai goldsmithing, for during the 19th century, when King Rama V became the first monarch to travel abroad, a number of foreign jewelers set up branches in Bangkok, including Fabergé. Clients with less refined tastes were catered to by Chinese immigrant goldsmiths. The Norwegian traveler Carl Bock wrote in 1888: “The manufacture of gold and silver jewelry, which is carried on to a large extent in Bangkok, is entirely in the hands of the Chinese.” Today, it is in the town of Petchburi, southwest of Bangkok, that the old tradition of goldwork is kept alive by descendants of early master goldsmiths.
Betel Sets
chian maak
Throughout South