Artwork Search
Arts in Southeast Asia Database
SculptureBan Chiang Pottery
It is a pottery in the tomb found from excavations of Ban Chiang Archaeological Site. It can be classified as follows:1.Early periods, at least between 4,300-3,000 years old.Phase 1 There are prominent types of potteries which are black-dark gray potteries with a low base. The upper half of the container is often decorated with curved lines with pressed dots and short lines. The lower half of the container is often decorated with handprint rope which is the pattern resulting from pressing the pottery surface with a rope. Phase 2 New type of pottery began to appear. It was a large pottery used to hold the bodies of children before being buried. There was also an ordinary-sized pottery with most of the surface outside of the container decorated with curved lines and that makes it seems like it was the container with more lines decorated than the one of the early periods.Phrase 3 Appeared potteries with the straight side wall or almost straight resulting in having a beaker-shaped container. There was also a short, round-necked pot with a straight mouth. It was decorated with handprinted rope on the entire container. Phase 4 Appeared round bottom pottery. The shoulder area of the pottery was decorated with curved lines mixed with red painting. While the part under the shoulder area was decorated with handprinted rope. This pottery was called “Om Kaew" because it was the main pottery type found in Ban Om Kaew, which was not far from Ban Chiang, during the prehistoric period.2.Middle periods, at least between 3,000-2,000 years old. The outer surface area of the pottery is white with clear sharp or curve angles in most of the shoulder areas. There are both round and pointed bottoms. Some of the potteries were decorated with stripes mixed with color painted near the mouth of the container and during the end of the middle period, the mouth of this type of pottery were decorated with red paint.3.Late periods: between 2,300-1,800 years agoThe early times of the Late periods: found potteries with red color painted on a soft color surface.The middle time of the Late periods: started to use potteries with red color painted on a red surface. The late times of the Late periods: started to use potteries painted with red color then wax. The pattern that appears on the potteries can be classified as follows:1. Geometrical motifs2. Free symmetry pattern3. Asymmetrical balanced pattern groupsThe popular patterns in the late periods were to color on the soft clay coating with circle or oval patterns, spiral patterns, spiral towards the center patterns, spiral towards the center, then looping out, and the S and Z patterns.The pattern of the container shows meticulousness of the potters. They created the potteries for the dead according to tradition and belief about death. The basic idea of the pattern creator in the community is culturally mutual but there were varieties of patterns appearing at the same time. In the initial stages, the patterns were simple and later, when the potters had more expertise, the patterns gradually became more and more complex.
PaintingTumpalai Phu Pha Yon
The various engraved drawings can be classified as follows:1. Human figures. There are 21 engraved drawings of people, including both realistic and semi-realistic portraits. There are 9 realistic drawings, 2 of children and 7 of adults, that show the similarity between the real person and the drawing, for instance, the drawing of a person with an emphasis on only the outlines; the description of organs such as ears, eyes, mouth, nose, fingers, toes are not shown. The semi-realistic drawing is the drawing that characterizes the person in proportion but will be inaccurate from reality, for instance, the human head is in a square shape or the muscles of the limbs are not focused. However, other important parts such as ears, eyes, mouth, nose, fingers and toes aren’t completely shown. There are 12 drawings of this type. 2. Human hands. There is only one drawing of a right hand with the palm open. There are six fingers on the hand.3.Animals figures There are 21 drawings, 8 of fish, 4 of birds, 2 of dogs, 1 of a squirrel or a chipmunk, 1 of a buffalo, 4 of buffaloes or cows, 1 of a frog or a small green frog. 4. Geometrical motifs There are a lot of drawings with straight lines, curve lines or lines with different patterns, square, triangle, cross, arrowhead, rhombic triangle, single line, arranged lines, and crossed lines and sometimes the shape cannot be identified. 5.Appliance For example, a picture that resembles a plow, farming tools that show only the head area called “Moldboard plow” or “Phal” at the rear. There are also drawings of a shovel with a handle and a fan for blowing away the withered grain. 6.Building There are 2 drawings that look like a house. It is a house with a gable roof. One drawing is of a house with a dog inside and another drawing is of a house with a crossed roof similar to the roof of Kalae house or the roof of a hut in a farm in northeast of Thailand and it looks like there is a person inside the house.
PaintingKhao Chan Ngam Prehistoric color paintings
All paintings are in red color. They are 2-4 meters above the ground. Past studies of the Fine Arts Department and Silpakorn University classified the paintings that were found into 12 groups according to the position found. There are 44 paintings altogether, 32 human paintings, 5 animal paintings (dog, birds or chicken, lizard? porcupine? tiger?), a painting of a bow and an arrow. And 5 paintings that are unable to identify. 2 painting techniques used are silhouette and outline. Most people in the paintings have large calves wearing sarong but no shirt. Women in the paintings have a bird's tail hanging from the waist and form a tassel on their head.Group 1: These are the most prominent and important set of paintings on the east stone wall with the size of 1x2 meters. The paintings are silhouette. There are 2 rows (top and bottom) of a group of 14 people, both male and female, children and adults, and a picture of a dog. Details are as follows:Top row: It is a painting of 3 people. The first person shows only half the body without the head. The second person is standing with his arms open and there is cloth with the striped hem spread out from both sides of the waist. The painting was drawn from a straight angle but the person in the painting is turning his face to the right. The side of the third person is displayed. He is turning his face to a different direction from the second person. This is a painting with a neck, some parts of the body, and thighs missing. Bottom row: It is a painting of people walking in a line. The first painting of the bottom row is about 30 centimeters below the top row. It is a painting of a person standing in a position of shooting arrows with an arrow already being shot out from the bow. The painting shows the side view of the person with hair on the head, cloth hanging from the front and the back and the outer hem of the cloth is with stripes. The back leg of the person was shifted. Next to this painting is the painting of a male dog with upright ears and sword tail. Its body is long and thin. Below the painting of the dog is a painting of 2 persons, one is a man and another one is a woman. One is sitting with the knees up and another one has the top naked with a big belly and a tail like a bird. It seems like they are talking in the painting. Next to that is a painting of a person standing with arms akimbo wearing two pieces of clothes covering the front and the back. The right arm is raised up to the elbow. The painting shows the side of the person. About 20 centimeters from this painting is a painting of a hunchback person with hair on the head, cloth hanging from the front and the back and the front hem of the cloth is with stripes. The right hand is stretching out to hold an object like a cane. In front of this painting is a painting of a person standing with both arms raised as if the person is performing a traditional dance. The back thigh is missing. Next is a painting of a side view of woman performing a traditional dance. In front of the woman is a person stretching out the arms with a veil and there is a cross on the back of the veil. Next to that is a painting of 2 children performing a traditional dance. One child is raising up both of the arms and another one is raising up the right arm while the left arm akimbo. They wear two pieces of clothes covering the front and the back. Following that is a faint red painting. Group 2: Located on the eastern side of the stone wall near the paintings of group 1, but they are on a different stone wall. There is a clear painting of a person running or performing a traditional dance while looking back. The detail from the knees to the toes are missing. This side of the wall has a trace of painting, but has completely faded and only red stripes can be seen. Group 3: Located on the eastern side of the stone wall. It is a painting of a man catching a reptile that looks like a chameleon, an iguana, or a lizard. There are 3 zigzag lines not far from the painting of the person.Group 4: Located on the eastern side of the stone wall. It is a painting of 3 people with no head in a standing position. Two of them are wearing cloth like short skirts above the knee.Group 5: Located on the western side of the stone wall. It is a painting of 3 people standing next to a painting of an animal that looks like a hedgehog or a wild boar. 2 painting techniques were used, silhouette and outline. The animal and the person standing in front of the animal were drawn in outline. Another painting of the person in a running position wearing cloth that covers the front and the back is in silhouette. Group 6: A painting of 3 people. The most completed person is in the center of the painting. It is a painting of a man spreading his arms out wearing cloth that covers the front and the back. The details from the knees and lower are missing. It can be assumed that the person is performing a traditional dance. The other 2 paintings are not completed, one with half of the top part of the body missing and another one with the lower part starting from the hip is missing. Group 7: A painting of an animal that looks like a lion or a tiger. There are 5 red dots in front of the animal caused by some missing colors.Group 8: A painting of 2 people performing a traditional dance. The painting shows only the top part of the body, the bottom part is missing. Group 9: A painting of a person with the arms raised. One side of the tip of the arm and the leg are missing. There are vertical stripes drawn on the side of the person. That maybe the person painting that has faded (?) Group 10 A painting of a person with no head and the body is in a curling position. Group 11 There are three paintings that all may be paintings of 3 people, but the paintings are faded and unclear. Group 12 A painting of a half-body person with the right arm spread out and the left arm paralleled to the ground.
