In the late 1960s, there was a growing recognition in Australia of the uniqueand diverse cultures of its nearest Southeast Asian neighbours. As part of ageneral review of its collection policies, the Art Gallery of South Australia at Adelaide made the conscious decision to focus on Southeast Asian and Chinese trade ceramics. The acquisition in 1969 of a piece of Sawankhalok stoneware was followed by Thai ceramics from the 13th to the 16th centuries to create the core of the gallery's Asian collection. Today the gallery has the largest collection of Thai ceramics in the nation with 230 objects, a significant part of which comprise Sawankhalok and Sukothai wares, that have been supplemented by 90 wares from Thailand's neighbours. They form the basis of the exhibition, Reflections of the Lotus: Art from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, the first in Australia to feature the art of mainland Southeast Asia. Thai ceramics fromthe Sukothai kingdom and its exceptional architectural component are augmented by the mediums of wood, bronze sculpture, lacquer and textile representing aesthetic practice in pre-modern Southeast Asia.
The understanding of Thai ceramic history has been advanced in recent years by new scholarship. Its apogee is associated with the Sukothai kingdom, which flourished along the Yom River on the upper Chao Phraya between the 13th and 16th centuries. Although Sukothai and its twin city, Sawankhalok, present-day Si Satchanalai (Chalieng) existed long before this time, the Sukothai kingdom's foundations as an ‘independent' entity occurred around 1238. The new kingdom - that gradually established the foundations for the Thai nation - required utilitarian objects as well as architectural artefacts for its palaces and temples. These were produced at the twin kiln complexes of Sawankhalok and Sukothai drawing on the northern Thai indigenous ceramic tradition. However in the absence of signed or dated wares, the artisans from these kilns remain anonymous. The situation is compounded by the fact that fewwritten accounts of wares from that time are extant. Information on ceramictechnology might be found on shards unearthed mainly from Thai grave and burialgrounds as well as settlement or religious sites. In the 1980s, archaeologicalexcavations at Ban Ko Noi outside Si Satchanalai have yielded importantinsights about the Sukothai ceramic tradition. However the possibility offinding intact subject matter on terrestrial sites is limited by human activity.
A viable alternative has been offered by underwater ormarine archaeology. The term came into current usage about 40 years ago becausethe incidence of finding intact vessels is significantly higher due totechnological advances. One total advantage of marine archaeology overterrestrial sites is that it is largely concerned with the contents of ships,said to be ‘time capsules' of particular periods. The same sort of time-framesystem cannot apply on land sites. Ceramics found in shipwreck cargoes areconsidered the most valuable material for dating, as they are resistant tocorrosion by biological or chemical agents.
Some of the cargoes salvaged in Southeast Asian watersprovide new evidence about the archipelago's complex trade patterns. They continueto redefine the Thai as well as other Asian ceramic traditions. Shipwreckcargoes discovered in the Gulf of Thailand as well as Sawankhalok and Sukothaiwares found in the Philippines and Java seem to affirm that the majority ofThai ceramics were exported between 1400 and 1600. The cargo of the Turiang(circa 1370-1400), a Chinese junk found off the Straits of Malacca in 1998consisted of nearly 4,000 Thai wares, including 2,500 Sukothai bowls. Theysuggest the Sawankhalok-Sukothai kilns were notable exporters of Thai ceramicsand also traded with Ming China (1368-1644). Indeed it has been possible -based on shipwreck excavations in Southeast Asian waters - to identify sixdistinct phases of Thai ceramic styles: They include the pre-export stage ofproduction (1200-1350), early Thai ceramics (circa 1368-1424/30) correspondingto the Ming period, mid-15th century Thai ceramics (1424/30-1487), theSawankhalok celadon interlude (circa 1424/30-1487), Thai ceramics exportedduring the Ming Hongzhi period (r. 1488-1505) including the late Hongzhi/earlyZhengde period (r. 505-1520) group (circa 1500-1510) and 16th-century Thaiceramics.
The Sawankhalok kilns along the Yom River are now knownto have produced a wide range of bowls, dishes, covered jars, bottles, kendiand lidded boxes intended both for domestic and ecclesiastical purposes as wellas for export. Both the Sawankhalok and Sukothai wares were wheel thrown. Theclay body of Sukothai wares was coarser, requiring the application of whiteslip before underglaze painting. Early Thai export ceramics are distinguishedby the use of iron oxide as a decorative device in underglaze black painting.Motifs from nature include the dokmai, ‘flower' in Thai. Itwas dominated by the lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, which hasgreat currency in Thai art and is particularly important in the Hindu-Buddhistcontext. Known as pratum in Thai after the Sanskrit padma,the lotus was given many names. The open flower was known as dokbua and the bud was dok bua tum, both appearing frequentlyas decorative motifs. The orchid species, Bauhinia purpurea ofnorthern Thailand, also features on the cavetto of a bowl. A stamped stardesign is derived from the fragrant Mimusops elegi planted intemple grounds for medicinal properties. It is repeated on the squat body of ajar with a domed lid and a lotus bud knob.
Thai exchanges with Song China (960-1279) had asignificant influence on Sawankhalok and Sukothai ceramics. The bird motif wasadapted from Chinese vessel forms, such as the yuhuchun ping,‘gourd-shaped' wine bottle that reached Thailand. A prominent band of threephoenixes is depicted on one Sawankhalok gourd bottle decorated with bold brushlines. As opposed to the Chinese pear-shaped model, it has a typical sagginglower belly profile created by its heavier clay body. Longquan ware fromZhejiang also directly inspired the making of Thai celadon. After the mid-15thcentury, finer clay and glaze materials managed to produce Sawankhalokceladons. A deep celadon dish with a lotus flower medallion and outer verticalgrooves is clearly in the Chinese-style.
The fish motif that first appeared on Sawankhalok bowlslater became a defining feature at Sukothai. Symbolising plenty, it was givenfree treatment with a markedly looser decorative style on bowl medallions. Thefish also provides clues to larger trends. In 1438, Sukothai was annexed by theAyutthaya kingdom (1350-1767) whose potters enjoyed low status and were rankedat the bottom of a 10-tier social scale. However a Sukothai fish shard, with aninscription for pla, ‘fish' in Thai, suggests some ceramicartisans were literate. Differences in decorative brush technique also alludeto other influences. Those made by the bark fibre brush native to the then Ceylonvary from Chinese-style animal hair brushwork. They suggest the presence ofoutside artisans since Ayutthaya traded extensively with neighbouringcountries. Monks returning from Ceylon had inaugurated a new Sinhala Buddhistorder in 14th-century Sukothai and it seems possible that Sinhalese artisansmight have been among them.
Sawankhalok-Sukothai ceramic shapes and forms alsoreflect varied religious affiliations prevailing at the time. They tell us thatfrom the 14th to the 16th centuries, Theravada Buddhism, Hindu Brahman cultsand animistic folk beliefs mingled with other Thai spiritual practices. Theconch emerged as a lustral water vessel as well as a musical instrument inHindu-Buddhist temple ceremonies. The kendi, an Indonesian-Malayterm derived from the Sanskrit kundika, a water-pouringvessel with a distinctive mammiform spout and bulbous body, was indigenous tothe Southeast Asian archipelago. Some Thai kendis took zoomorphic forms. The hamsa,the mythical swan-vehicle of the Hindu deity Brahma sacred to MountMeru, the abode of the gods, surfaced in kendi form with its mouth acting as a spout.When the Ayutthuya ruler, Boromma Trailokanat (1448-1488), bestowed theSanskrit term, Svargaloka, meaning ‘Place of Heaven' onSawankhalok, the hamsa kendi became a recognisable emblem.
After the mid-16th century, a new ceramic type began todefine Sawankhalok ceramics. For the first time, the lidded or covered box wasintroduced with geometric patterns. The box is a characteristic Buddhist formwith an ancestry dating to 2nd and 3rd century Gandhara samples imitatingmetalwork original to the area. One Sukothai covered box has three symboliclotus buds, dok bua tum, incised in sgrafitto onthe lid, indicating a religious Buddhist context. The covered boxes in theGallery's collection tend to range from 4 to 17 cm high. The smallest versionsappear to have been made as miniature replicas for the Southeast Asian gravefurniture market, including South Sulawesi pre-Islamic burial sites. Ceramiccovered boxes were also used as containers for the accessories to betelchewing, a then current Southeast Asian social habit.
Although not a planned entity like Angkor Wat, Sukothaiand Si Satchanalai were among the earliest Thai cities designed according toTheravada Buddhist concepts. In the early 14th century, the Pa Yang kilns nearSukothai were making architectural artefacts and ornaments using the ceramicmedium. They drew from a Dvaravati period (6th to 11th centuries) traditionwhen temple decoration utilised stucco reliefs made of plaster and clay tosculpt roof finials, balustrade ornaments, eave brackets and columns. Theseartefacts were considered sacred, and their production was supervised bytemples. In them might be found manifold religious affiliations. A pair offinials with the zoomorphic makara, a mythological seamonster symbolising water and fertility is also the mount of Ganga, the deityof the river. Another finial with a protective function often used in roof andbalustrade ornamentation, features the winged garuda, the eagle mount ofthe Hindu deity Vishnu. The creature appears in anthropomorphic form withtypical human torso in garuda subduing two naga, divine serpents.
Metal furnaces excavated along with ceramic kilns at KoNoi suggest metalwork provided an important reference for anthropomorphicceramic prototypes. Large door guardians and free-standing specimens wereheavily influenced by the indigenous bronze casting tradition, which the Thaisperfected. Sukothai sculptors had a particular affinity with bronze, and usedthe fluidity of the medium to its fullest. Perhaps it is the ceramic theppranam, a ‘celestial being with folded hands in gesture of homage orrespect' sculpted from a bronze prototype - its features enhanced with ironoxide glaze - that best exemplifies the adaptability of Thai art.
Yvonne Tan
Until 4 July, Reflections of the Lotus: Art from Thailand,Burma, Cambodia and Laos is at the Art Gallery of South Australia, North Terrace,Adelaide SA 5000. www.artgallery.sa.gov.au
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