In our last post for the year we are featuring a selection of photographs of Asian antiques, artifacts and textiles from our gallery in an Asian home décor setting. We wish all of the visitors to our gallery a happy holiday season and offer our best wishes for 2016.
We recently returned from a trip to Laos, where thanks to the help of a long time Laotian friend, we found three impressive Chinese antique opium pipes and a small collection of accoutrements. Authentic antique opium pipes and smoking paraphernalia have become a popular, albeit rare collectible. In this blog we are featuring these artifacts along with some background information on the history of opium.
It is the Chinese who perfected the art of smoking opium and developed the classic opium pipe, made from a hollow bamboo stem and a saddle into which fits an earthenware pipe-bowl resembling a door knob designed to vaporize the opium over a specially constructed oil lamp. The creation of these handsome pipes and accompanying paraphernalia evolved into an art form, and the materials used in their construction included silver, ivory, horn, bronze, jade, and other semi-precious stones. In mankind’s eternal quest for bliss states, the material world of opium smoking reached artistic heights and ritualistic observation of an order seldom seen, from the pipes and accoutrements to the lavishly decorated opium dens.
Ideally, the smoker would lie on his or her side, their head resting on a pillow, while an experienced assistant would heat a pill of opium over the lamp using the opium needle, and then place a pea sized ball around the hole of the pipe-bowl. He would then guide the bowl over the funnel of the lamp while the smoker held the other end of the pipe and inhaled. The assistant would use the needle to chase the opium around the bowl as it vaporized until the pill was fully spent. A moderate session would result in ten or so of these little balls being vaporized. Opium smokers typically report feeling enveloped by a warm, gently euphoric glow with all bodily discomfort and worldly concerns falling away into nothingness. Descriptions of opium withdrawal are rather less charming. The 19th century French poet, Baudelaire, likened opium to a woman friend, “…an old and terrible friend, and, alas, like them all, full of caresses and deceptions!” During the prohibition of opium in China and other parts of Asia, as well as in the West, most opium pipes and accoutrements were destroyed in public bonfires, making the remaining artifacts valuable relics of a bygone era. With demand for these curious artifacts greatly exceeding their availability, reproductions are common and sometimes presented as the genuine article – emptor cavete.
Opium is the congealed sap extracted from the seed pods of the poppy, Papaver Somniferum. It has been suggested, based on archeological evidence, that its use could date back as far as 30,000 years, used by Neanderthals. Ancient civilizations known to have cultivated the opium poppy include Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, India, Minoan, Greek, and Roman. As far back as 4000B.C a written reference to the opium poppy appears in a Sumerian text, where it is referred to as hul gil – the plant of joy.
Classical Greek physicians raved about the poppy as a veritable panacea of surprising efficacy in its ability to treat all manner of maladies, including venomous bites, respiratory problems, jaundice, colic, leprosy, kidney stones, melancholia, and of course pain. This enthusiasm for opium, which throughout various cultures enjoyed such names Milk of Paradise, Anchor of Life, and Destroyer of Grief, was shared by 17th century pioneer of English medicine, Thomas Sydenham, who wrote, “Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium.” Sydenham went on to produce his own formula for the opium drink known as laudanum, which by the 19th century was widely available at any English pharmacy. Served by opium producers in Turkey and in British India, opium imports for domestic consumption reached a staggering 280,000 lbs by 1860. The use of opium in the United States was also commonplace in cities at this time and its reputation escaped negative connotations until 1882, when a law was passed to restrict its use to licensed opium dens. As a side note, Thomas Jefferson is known to have cultivated opium poppies in his garden in Monticello.
One of the earliest references to the use of opium in China is in the form of a 10th century poem celebrating the effects of drinking opium. Whereas the Indian tradition was to eat opium, by the 17th century, the Chinese had discovered the art of smoking it, often mixing Indian opium with tobacco- two products under Dutch trade. By the late 1700s, the British East India Company controlled the Asian opium trade with Indian grown poppies. During the 1800s the recreational use of opium smoking in China had become problematic. In response, the Imperial Chinese Court banned its importation and use, but the appetite for China’s massive opium addicted population continued to be met by British smugglers. At this time, the opium trade provided 15-20% of the British Empire’s revenue, effectively making it the richest and most aggressive drug cartel the world has ever seen.
In 1839, Qing Emperor Tao-Kuang assigned one of his ministers, Lin Tse-Hsu to resolve the problem. Lin wrote to Queen Victoria seeking help, but received no response. Angered, the Emperor ordered that 20,000 barrels of opium be destroyed and a number of foreign traders were jailed. In turn, the British attacked the port city, Canton, starting the first opium war. Following defeat, the Chinese were forced to sign the treaty of Nanjing in 1842, which required that the opium trade continue unfettered and for a large settlement to be paid. In addition, five new ports were to be opened to facilitate trade, and China was forced to cede Hong Kong to Britain. In 1858, the second opium war was fueled by western demands to expand the opium market even more. Following a second defeat, the Chinese were forced to legalize opium and massive domestic production began. By 1906, China was producing some 35,000 tons of opium, equating to 85% of global production. It’s estimated that by this time, over a quarter of Chinese men were opium addicts. Initiatives during the early 1900s began to curb the well established habit that included all levels of society. Opium pipes and paraphernalia were burned, and smokers were required to register and be weaned off the narcotic. Still, the habit largely persisted and it was not until the communist takeover in 1949 under Mao that real change was realized. Ten million addicts were forced into treatment, dealers were executed, and poppy fields replaced with alternative cash crops.
As a result, opium production shifted from China into Burma, Laos, and Thailand, forming what came to be known as The Golden Triangle. By the beginning of World War II, taxes on the sale of opium throughout French Indochina made up 15% of the colonial government’s revenues. When global war disrupted the traditional maritime route of opium into Indochina, Opium Régie enlisted the help of Hmong farmers. As a result, opium production rose 800% within four years. By the end of World War II, France lost control of much of Laos to the Viet Minh and their protégés, the Pathet Lao. Two powerful Hmong opium brokers took opposing sides, one supporting the colonialist French, and the other the communists. The defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 put an end to their reign.
America’s attempts to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia created what has been dubbed a “Cold War Opium Boom”. It has been suggested that CIA operatives trained Hmong guerrillas who had previously sided with the French, using their opium crops to fund operations. By the end of the Vietnam War, the production of opium in the Golden Triangle was second to none. Decades later, of the three countries making up the Golden Triangle, Thailand has been the most successful in tackling the illegal production of opium through its crop replacement strategy, substituting poppies for medium to high value cash crops such as tea, coffee, kidney beans, apples and herbs. Today, Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of illicit opium, followed by Burma, which accounts for 25% of global production.
In Laos, the Hmong and Mien hill tribe peoples embraced the cultivation of the poppy. The Hmong traditionally live 1000m -3000m above sea level in the mountains where life is hard, with few comforts, winter droughts, high winds, and freezing temperatures. The mountainous regions are ill-suited to most food crops or extensive animal husbandry. It is however, ideally suited to growing opium. They are a fiercely independent people who have survived centuries of conflict with the Chinese as well as face bigotry from the lowland inhabitants of SE Asia. Traditionally, accumulating wealth in the form of silver was paramount in Hmong society.
The Hmong of Xieng Khouang tell this myth about the origin of their association with opium:
“A long time ago, when the Hmong came down from China, they didn’t know how to grow opium. As they were passing through the Chinese side of what is called The Golden Triangle, they saw that the Burmese enthusiastically cultivated this crop but didn’t tend their fields well. Even so, the opium harvest provided a good income. Seeing the potential profit to be made, the Hmong learned to grow poppy from the Burmese. Initially, the Hmong worked just as carelessly as the Burmese, but later as they were migrating into Laos, they improved their farming methods. They perfected the art of cultivation under French encouragement, about a decade before World War II.”
Traditionally, the use of opium in Laos included women as well as men, and was common at all levels of society. If one could afford it, a refined and aesthetically pleasing Chinese opium pipe was used; otherwise a crude version based on the same principles was fashioned. In the mountains, opium was often the only available form of medicine for treating diarrhea and pain arising from all sorts of maladies, from arthritis to flu, and was highly effective. Some limited its use to only treating medical problems. For others, lying down for a few pipes at the end of a hard day working the fields was a welcome reward. Some used opium recreationally occasionally, without becoming addicted, while others fell into a habit of 60 or more pipes a day, thereby becoming a burden on the family. In Hmong culture, opium was always kept in the home, yet many chose not to partake, citing the fear of becoming neeng hao yeng, “one who is addicted to opium”.
Copyright sabai designs gallery 2015
References:
Lee, P., Opium Culture: The Art & Ritual of the Chinese Tradition, Park Street Press, 2006.
Steve Martin, The Art of Opium Antiques, Silkworm Books, 2007
Sir William Osler, God’s Own Medicine
Joseph Westermeyer, Poppies, Pipes, and People: Opium and Its Use in Laos, 1983
Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Martin Booth, Opium: A History 1999
We made another trip to Cambodia in May where we visited Phnom Penh and surrounding areas and searched for antiques to offer in the gallery.
A highlight was a visit to Phnom Chisor, a temple from the Angkor Period, built by the Khmer king, Suryavarman, who practiced Brahmanism. The temple sits upon a solitary hill in Takeo Province, offering wonderful panoramic views of the countryside below. It’s quite a climb up a long series of steps in the heat of the dry season.
The site was originally known as Suryagiri and the main temple is constructed of laterite and brick with carved sandstone lintels. The temple complex is enclosed by partially ruined walls, and inside, inscriptions can be found dating from the 11th century. Rituals were held here 900 years ago with the king accompanied by his entourage, who would climb the 400 steps. Here they would pay homage to the Hindu gods, Vishnu and Shiva. The main temple is still active and now houses an image of the Buddha along with the Hindu gods. Inside you can receive a blessing where a prayer is offered and a red string tied to the right wrist.
We also visited the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, next to the Royal Palace. The museum houses one of the world’s largest collections of Khmer art including sandstone sculpture, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Despite being looted during the Khmer Rouge regime, many impressive pieces remain. The collection dates from prehistoric times, pre, present, and post Khmer Empire period, up to the 19th century. It’s a fascinating place to spend a few hours. The scale and quality of artistic endeavour from the Angkorian Era is breathtaking, but we were also reminded of the beauty of pre-Angkor art. The Angkorian period began in AD802 when Jayavarman II declared himself a universal monarch and lasted until the late 14th century.
We returned with a collection of Khmer antiques including 18th-19th century lime pots, bronze bells, lacquer-ware, and other rare artifacts, some of which are featured below.
sabai designs gallery was very pleased to again support Friends Without A Border (FWAB) by providing several antiques for live and silent auction at this year’s 13th Annual Gala held at the Lighthouse in NYC on April 2, 2015. We have since learned that the night was a great success.
“Thank you to everyone who supported our 13th Annual Friends Gala! Thanks to you, we raised over $280,000 for Lao Friends Hospital for Children!” Friends Without A Border
Friends founder, Kenro Izu, started the organization after bearing witness to the suffering of Cambodia’s children during a trip to photograph the lost city of Angkor. Friends Without A Border is motivated by the belief that every child has the right to a healthy and loving life and is honoring this conviction by providing high-quality, compassionate medical care to the children of Southeast Asia. Friends is committed to creating ongoing community health education programs and training local healthcare professionals.
If you would like to help with the mission of FWAB you can visit their website here: Friends Without A Border.
Over the past year or so we have been introducing more opium weights from Northern Siam and Laos to our collection. These weights are quite distinct from the better known weights cast in Burma that fall into mainly two categories- the beast and bird weights of various incarnations tied to the change of monarch. Weights from Siam and Laos include the elephant, toe, and hamsa and later, certain animals from the oriental solar zodiac including the horse, rooster, tiger, bull, goat, snake, rabbit, monkey, dog, and pig. The bronze is generally of high quality with a dark patina varying from grey to chocolate brown. These weights make a nice addition to Burmese weights for the collector. In our experience, they are found in fewer numbers than Burmese weights.
Siam
It is reported in the Annals of Chiangmai that in 1460 AD, the Siamese adopted the Chinese word peng to refer to a particular mass and today is used to refer to the bronze animal weights in general. In 1558 AD, Chiang Mai, the capital of the La-Na Kingdom, was sacked by the Burmese who destroyed the weights and measures system, and along with it, the currency of the kakim silver ingot. The Burmese introduced their own floral ingot as well its own standardization of weights and measures. It is likely that elephant weights were cast at this time and continued to be produced after the Burmese lost control in the second half of the 18th century. Following the departure of the Burmese, other animal shaped figurines made their appearance and it has been suggested that other than serve as weights, they were used as currency. In 1858 Siam began producing machine made coins eliminating the need for bronze figurines to serve as currency. Even so, animal shaped figurines continued to be cast. In Earth to Heaven, Donald and Joan gear suggest that the elephant weights originated in northern Siam rather than Laos.
The bases of Siamese weights were mostly octagonal and occasionally ellipse. The sides are commonly stepped and often vertically striated. Astrologers of the time were known to keep a set of these figurines used in predicting future outcomes. In general, elephant shaped weights have a sign marked on the base resembling the blades of a windmill. Occasionally, other animal shapes were also marked with a sign on the base, mostly in the form of radiating stars with 4,5,6,7 or 8 rays.
Bronze elephant weights from Siam (and Laos) were often used to weigh silver bullion, opium (which was widely used at the time), medicines, as well as a form of money. Mostly, the mass varied from 5 to 300 grams. A common feature of Siamese weights is that a small lump of bronze has been removed from the base to adjust the weight – evidence that the figurines were in fact used to weigh materials. Conversely, some weights appear to have been adjusted up in weight with a lump of solder between the legs. Early French travelers to Siam were suspicious that Siamese merchants kept two sets of weights of indistinguishable appearance – one slightly heavier set that were used when buying goods, and a lighter set to be used when selling. It’s clear on inspection of surviving examples that Siamese weights tend to be less accurate than Burmese weights.
Laos
Despite our efforts, we have not found any substantial written material specifically about opium weight production in Laos. During regular visits to Laos over the past 14 years we have seen and acquired a number of opium weights in the form of the elephant, lion-beast, the various animals from the solar zodiac, as well as some rarely seen forms such as the stag. The Gears’ deduce in their guidebook, Earth to Heaven, that elephant weights, while not originating in Laos (as popularly thought), were cast there along with other animal forms. A Laotian friend and enthusiastic antique collector was confident in telling us that opium weights were cast in the 19th century (and probably much earlier) in Phongsali, a town amongst the mountains in the far north of the country. She suggested that the weights were commonly used to weigh opium cultivated by the Hmong hill tribe people, as well as other precious items. Along with our friends who collect opium weights, we are often unable to distinguish between weights cast in Laos and those cast in Siam and so tend to group them together. Visit our opium weight collection.
A rare antique kammavaca (Buddhist Pali manuscript) currently offered in our gallery was recently featured in the fall edition of the well known Canadian based quarterly magazine, Buddhadharma. The article titled, Milestones – Exploring Buddhist Translation Today, discusses the historical and ongoing work of translating the Pali canon, as well as the many subsequent Buddhist texts from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition so that they are preserved and made available for study today and for future generations of seekers.
In the countries where Buddhism first spread, namely, Sri Lanka, China, and Tibet, the translator’s role was extremely important and highly honored. An error in translation could lead to a missed clue of vital importance about the nature of consciousness. To do justice to the work was to perform an act of great merit, for if it facilitated the awakening of even one being, the existence of the text was priceless. “The Tibetan word for translator is lotsawa, meaning cosmic-eye.”
The article notes that, “Forty years ago, Buddhist books in English were hard to find, and today there are probably more translations than most of us can read in one lifetime.” Fellow of the Tsadra Foundation, Sarah Harding makes the comment, “Until about 2000, many translation efforts were random, and often began when a lama asked for a text in his lineage to be translated or when academics would find good PhD projects to undertake. Now a number of organizations are working in a more cohesive fashion. Because of the massive volume of some anthologies, a number of translations today are only published digitally. Technology has changed translation tremendously, just in terms of time and the ability to look something up quickly (on the internet) without flipping through giant pages of text.”
Griffith Foulk, co-editor-in-chief of the Soto Zen Text Project expresses concern that, “we’re building digital canons; they’re so easy to access that they’ve become almost the only thing people look at. There is a danger that what isn’t input digitally will fall by the wayside and be ignored. Then, when everything exists on the cloud, civilization will pull the plug on the whole thing and it will go poof!”
Also calling into question the wisdom of relying too much on the fickle longevity of digitally preserved documents is Bhikkhu Bodhi, “There are older Pali texts preserved in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts…..across Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. In these tropical countries, the manuscripts tend to decay…Now that they’re no longer being copied, what’s coming to pass is that the electronic edition becomes the single authoritative version of the text; variant readings preserved in these palm-leaf manuscripts will likely be lost.”
Below is a collection of rare antique Buddhist manuscripts and manuscript pages offered in our gallery – click on the image for more information. Please contact us at info@sabaidesignsgallery.com to inquire about any of these artifacts.
Buddhism lies at the heart of all Tibetan art with thangkas (in Tibetan thang yig meaning ‘recorded message’) emerging as one of the most important Tibetan art forms. Tibetans have always revered thangkas as a treasure of great value and today the popularity of Tibetan thangkas has spread throughout the world.
The beginnings of Tibetan art can be traced to the time of King Songtsen Gampo of the 7th century who married Nepalese and Chinese princesses, both Buddhists, who each brought with them their Buddhist shrines. By the 8th century, Buddhism was established as the state religion and Tibetan Buddhist art began to flourish, embracing the iconographical art of India as well as notable influences from China and Persia.
Thangkas or scroll paintings first originated in India and served as a richly symbolic portrayal of the cyclic nature of the world of samsara or illusion and the means of transcending it as taught by the Buddha. This form of thangka is commonly referred to as the ‘Wheel of Life’. Buddhist pilgrims would travel with thangkas rolled up, unfurling the paintings in village squares to help convey the basic tenets of Buddhism including the binding nature of desire, ensuing suffering, and the source of karma which keeps one ‘lashed to the wheel’ of material existence with inevitable rebirth.
In Tibet, where a significant number of the population was nomadic, thangkas developed a wider use. They always accompanied the caravan of monks and abbots in what was essentially a mobile temple. It is recorded in the ‘Book of the Crystal Rosary’, that when the 7th Karmapa, Chotrag Gyamsto (1454-1506) traveled, over 500 donkeys were required to transport the tents, religious documents, portable shrines, decorated banners and other paraphernalia. To provide a sense of the magnitude of this traveling monastery, it’s thought that as many as 10,000 monks would participate in this style of itinerant Buddhist camp, or in Tibetan, gar.
The art form of creating thangkas was most often passed on from father to son as a family tradition with a long apprenticeship requiring commitment and discipline. Typically, a thangka would be commissioned by a monastery and the master artist would be surrounded by students including his sons while he worked. The apprentices would fill in colour and perform the less demanding aspects of painting the thangka. Master and apprentices would be well taken care of by the monastery while the work was being completed with weekly feasts held and gifts presented. Final payment for the thangka may have included livestock, butter, cheese, grain, clothes, and jewellery.
Most thangkas are painted on linen stretched over a wooden frame, though Chinese silk was sometimes used. The linen would be prepared with chalk mixed with a thick gummy substance such as animal based glue. With the excess base scraped off and the cotton dry, a charcoal outline would be drawn. Natural pigments used to apply colour included blue from lapis lazuli, pink from flower petals, red from cinnabar, green from tailor’s greenstone, and yellow from sulphur. After the basic colouring of the various elements of the painting had been completed, the master would add shading and 24K gold which would be burnished with an agate stone. The eyes of the celestial spirits, and lastly the Buddha, signaled the completion of the painting of the thangka in the “opening of the eyes” celebration. Later, silk brocade would sometimes be added in blue, green, red and yellow, with a curtain falling over the front of the thangka regarded as a ‘door’ leading into the ‘world’ depicted in the painting. Wooden dowels act as support rods top and bottom. Thangkas were sometimes created using silk appliqué or embroidered silk. Mantras written in the ancient language, Sanskrit, may also be added in designated panels at the bottom of the painting.
While the creation of thangkas was mostly undertaken anonymously by lay people whose family had a long lineage of passing on the tradition from one generation to the next, occasionally artistically disposed gurus or abbots painted thangkas to express their own deeps insights and thereby enrich the body of spiritual understanding for future students of Buddhism.
As well as being used as instructional aides to convey the teaching and life of the Buddha, thangkas serve as subjects of meditative inquiry, particularly when in the form of the mandala. As well as monasteries, thangkas are found in the homes of lay people, though sadly, most were confiscated or destroyed during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution.
For information on the specific iconography found in the “Life of the Buddha” and “Wheel of Existence” form of thangkas, please visit the individual pages for the thangkas currently offered in the gallery in the Buddhist Art category. The three thangkas listed are from Ladakh, in the Indian Himalaya, where about half of the inhabitants are Tibetan Buddhists. The thangka coded ABA51 is a rare museum quality piece from the 19th century.
sabai designs gallery is very happy to be associated with Friends Without a Border and recently provided artifacts for auction at their 12th Annual Friends Gala. The event was held at The Lighthouse, Chelsea Piers, NYC on Thursday, April 3. The Gala, ‘Expanding the Dream’, raised funds to continue the mission from Cambodia to Laos in support of a healthier future for the children of Southeast Asia. Donations will support the construction of Lao Friends Hospital for Children as well as continued operations of Angkor Hospital for Children, and The Lake Clinic in Cambodia.
The Gala included cocktails and cuisine infused with Asian spices, auctions and a market offering exceptional artifacts from throughout Southeast Asia with live traditional music from Laos and Cambodia. Night views of the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River made for a spectacular backdrop to the night’s festivities. Below are images of the artifacts for auction from our gallery.
“Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the gala last night! It was a really fun evening, and we raised lots of money for children’s healthcare. It was so heartwarming to see all the hands raised in the air, pledging to help, during our live auction “fund-a-need”. We truly have some amazing friends out there”, Friends Without A Border.
Friends Without A Border is committed to care for, educate and support the destitute, abandoned, neglected, ill and dependent children and their families in Southeast Asia, starting in Cambodia and now in the process of building a pediatric hospital in Luang Prabang, Laos.
FWAB was first conceived when Kenro Izu visited Cambodia to photograph the famous Angkor temples in 1993, and witnessed firsthand the suffering of Cambodian children. By 1996, FWAB was officially founded and the next year Angkor Hospital for Children was built in cooperation with the Governor of Siem Reap and the Minister for Health. Since then the hospital has continued to expand its facilities and has become an official teaching hospital with the support of FWAB. In 2011, the Angkor Hospital for Children treated its one millionth patient and in 2013 a long anticipated goal of ‘a Cambodian hospital for Cambodians by Cambodians’ was reached when FWAB handed over operations to a local NGO (AHC International).
“We believe every child has the right to a healthy and loving life”, Friends without a Border
On our most recent trip to Laos in search of antiques and artifacts for the gallery it soon became apparent how few genuine antique pieces were available compared to previous visits. However with a determined effort we managed to find some special items from the 19th and early 20th century which we are highlighting here. Also included are a few photos from the wonderful Wat Si Saket and Haw Pha Kaew Museum, King Setthathirat’s former royal temple. Just click on the images below to be taken to the relevant page for each category.
These are the two finest antique opium pipes that we have had in the gallery to date. Genuine antique opium pipes are exceedingly rare now, having become a highly sort after international collectible. These two pipes were used by the Hmong hill tribe people and are of Chinese origin, being much more refined than most hill tribe opium pipes.
Below is a small collection of antique hill tribe silver jewellery, much of it from the Lao Hmong, and includes soul lock pendants, bracelets, and torques. These are wearable pieces from the late 19th – early 20th century with a silver content of about 92%. They have been given a light clean but can be brought to a high shine if desired. The Hmong are famous in Southeast Asia for their penchant for silver and the skills of their silversmiths.
This collection of antique bronze bells is from Vientiane where they once hung from the eves of temple buildings before being replaced by newly donated bells. They have developed a lovely aged patina and possess distinct ring tones, which at the temple are heard as a reminder of the Buddha’s deep wisdom and endless compassion.
We returned from Laos with just these two charming opium weights. They are from Phongsali in the northern mountains and were used by the Hmong to weigh out opium in the 19th century. While Siamese and Laotian opium weights are said to be less accurate than Burmese weights, these two are beautifully cast. The deer is a particularly rare form.
We hope that you enjoy these rare Laotian artifacts from a bygone era. Please let us know if there are any pieces that are of particular interest. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about these pieces. We will also soon be listing a few exceptional examples of silk weaving from a studio in Vientiane along with a few antique tribal textiles.
We recently acquired some wonderful Asian antiques now listed in the gallery including Buddha statues, lacquerware, bronze bells, ceramics and textiles, mostly from Burma. Sometimes it’s difficult to fully appreciate pieces offered in the gallery without the opportunity of seeing them in a home setting so we are displaying them here to provide a sense of context.
Displayed here are an antique wood carving statue of the Buddha and a monk as well as an antique lacquerware vessel know in Burma as kun-it. Burmese artisans are well known for their expertise in wood carving. The tradition of lacquerware is centuries old in Burma and a great variety of vessels exist. They can be made from bamboo, rattan, or jackfruit wood which are then applied with several layers of natural and pigmented lacquer which is then decorated with an iron stylus using various motifs.
This entry incorporates both European and Asian influences without a conflict in aesthetics. With a little experimentation, Asian and European decor can complement and contrast one another beautifully.
This exotic dining room incorporates a cane dining setting decorated with a silk runner and 15thC Swanakhalok shipwreck jar. In the background are a decorated Burmese lacquered panel and sideboard upon which sits an antique bronze elephant bell, antique Burmese ox cart ornament and antique monk wood carving. And most precious of all, Lilly getting her beauty sleep.
Mirrors bring light and depth into rooms, reflecting colour and art work , and creating shifting visual effects. Featured in this photo is a rare Shan Buddha statue carved from wood, lacquered and then gilded. Beside the Buddha are a monk and lacquer-ware box. On the wall hangs a painting by a Laotian artist and reflected in the mirror is an antique Lisu hill tribe silver necklace.
This photo shows a wider view of the dining room with the addition of a pink orchid. Orchids are surely one of the most exquisite members of the botanical world and lend themselves to creating a relaxing Eastern ambiance.
This living room features a collection of Burmese antiques and an etching by Thai artist, Vorakorn Metmanorom. The timber, furnishings and lighting used help create a warm atmosphere.
Another shot of the dining room with the concertina doors opened. Decorative pieces include a Burmese Chin runner, Burmese lacquer-ware, Buddha statue with attendant monks and Chinese overhanging gilded frame.
The decor items featured in these photos are available at the time of posting and represent just a small selection of the Asian antiques, art, silk and tribal textiles, as well as collectibles available in the gallery.
Copyright sabai designs gallery 2007
