Crafts

The Sukhothai kingdom, widely considered the Thai 'golden age', lasted less than two hundred years before being absorbed by the kingdom of Ayutthaya, which had originally been its vassal state. Ceramics produced in Sukhothai, and at the nearby city of Si Satchanalai, were exported in large quantities to places as distant as Indonesia and the Philippines by Arab and Indian traders. About a dozen sunken ships from this period have been discovered in the Gulf of Thailand. One of these contained around 4,000 pieces of Sukhothai pottery. The expansion of this trade filled a void created by restrictions imposed by the Chinese emperor on the export of Chinese pottery. Religious crafts like the adornment of temples with inlays of mother-of-pearl and glass mosaics also flourished during this time. A famous inscription, dated 1292, from the time of King Ramkamhaeng, intones that his subjects were free to trade in gold and silver, and presumably to fashion ornaments and ceremonial crafts from precious metals.

The Ayutthaya period, which lasted around 400 years from 1350 to 1767, saw the flowering and refinement of many traditional crafts. Goldsmiths produced intricate and lovely work for their royal patrons, some of which has only recently been rediscovered. The artisans of the Ayutthaya period served the royal families, and were employed to decorate the palaces and temples and produce ceremonial objects and symbols of status. They crafted royal regalia, jewel encrusted swords and figurines, betel boxes, elephant howdahs, royal barges and woodcarvings portraying scenes from the Ramakian, the Thai version of the Indian Ramayana. The artisans were not expected to produce creative new works, but to embellish traditional forms many of which were styles and designs inherited from the Sukhothai kingdom.

During this period envoys and traders from Europe arrived, first the Portuguese in 1512, and later the Dutch, French, Spanish, and English. The art of making nielloware, which some believe was introduced by the Portuguese but others believe predated their arrival, is said to have reached heights of artistic perfection during the Ayutthaya period. Thai silks, especially those from the Northeast, greatly impressed the Europeans, as did the splendor of the temples and the royal palaces.

Unfortunately, the sacking and destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767 meant the loss of not only the architectural and sculptural marvels, but also destroyed many beautifully hand crafted objects along with the communities of artisans who had produced them. Although the Siamese swiftly regrouped and expelled the Burmese, the cultural discontinuity in crafts and fine arts which resulted from the looting and torching of the ancient capital is still lamented by the Thai people today.

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