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Hun Wang Na (The Crown Prince’s puppets)
Keywords : Bangkok National Museum , Wangna, King Rama V, Ramayana, Hun Lek, Hun Wang Na (The Crown Prince’s puppets), Shivamokpimarn royal throne
Artwork alternative name | Hun Lek |
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Site common name | Bangkok National Museum |
Site alternative name | Wang Na |
Type of artwork | Sculpture |
Sub district | Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang |
District | Khet Phra Nakhon |
Province | Bangkok |
Region | Central |
Country | Thailand |
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree | Lat : 13.757491 Long : 100.49217 |
Geographic Coordinates UTM | Zone : 47 P Hemisphere : N E : 661323.86 N : 1521406.96 |
Place of artwork | Shivamokpimarn royal throne |
Artist | Bavornvichaicharn, the Crown Prince in the reign of King Rama V. |
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History of production | Created by the order of Bavornvichaicharn, the Crown Prince in the reign of King Rama V. |
Production process | Puppets controlling sticks were made of soft texture wood, attached with strings, clothes and their heads are made of fabric and paper Marché. |
Size | Approximately 50 cm. (average height) |
Art | The Puppets’ bodies were made of light weight soft texture wood. They were drilled to thread the strings for controlling. The head was also made out of similar wood and attached with strings, and the face is decorated with lacquer, paper Marché and painting. Male puppets usually wear a theatrical crown and tiara as coiffeur, while the costume and jewelry are similar to those of Khon, and likewise female puppets. The male puppets usually wear loose, straight legged, calf length trousers with deep embroidered hems under a draped brocade his wrappers that is padded at the sides, horizontally pleated in back and vertically pleated in front. The female puppets usually wear long, embroidered, upper-body garment that combines cape and shoulder cloth, over a simple base consisting of a snug bodice and wrap skirt. Furthermore, high social ranked female puppets such as princess or queen wear a theatrical crown. Yaksa queen or princess puppets wear a pointed tiara; whilst servant puppets wear a flame tiara. |
Key academic information | Two sets of puppets were created by the order of Bavornvichaicharn, the Crown Prince in the reign of King Rama V for performing Ramayana. The first set is puppets well adorned and face-painted exactly like Khon or the Masked Performance. The other is Chinese puppets for performing ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, a chinese novel. The latter set was decorated according to Chinese Opera performers. All of the puppets are 1 m. smaller than the Royal Puppets or Hun Yai, which were used in royal ceremonies since Ayutthaya period, therefore, the Crown Prince’s Puppets are also called Small Puppets or Hun Lek. Each of Hun Lek has a wooden stick connecting with the lower part of the puppet which the controllers use to carry the puppet. Striings are thridden through the puppet’s hands, legs and arms to make it move. Some puppets are thridden through more than 10 points for controlling movements. Hun Lek includes leading male and female puppets, Yakṣa puppets, and monkey puppets wearing the same costumes and headgears as Khon. |
Period | Historical Period |
Art period | Rattanakosin |
Age | 25th Buddhist century |
Religion and belief | Traditions in the Thai Royal Court |
Legend | Ramayana and the Chinese novel entitled ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ |
Related artwork | Royal Puppets, Hun Lakhon Lek |
Type of License | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) |
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Rights | Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre |
Date of record creation | 2016-08-15 |
Record creator | Patsaweesiri Premkulanan |
Bibliography | ศิริรัตน์ ทวีทรัพย์. หุ่นวังหน้า. กรุงเทพฯ : กรมศิลปากร, 2551. วันทนีย์ ม่วงบุญ. ลักษณะประติมานวิทยาของหุ่นเรื่องรามเกียรติ์ ของกรมพระราชวังบวรวิไชยชาญ. กรุงเทพฯ : สถาบันนาฏดุริยางคศิลป์ กรมศิลปากร, 2539 |