Beasts, Birds and Blossoms in Thai Art

Luxuriant tropical plants, colourful birds, and abundant wildlife have inspired Thai artists since neolithic times. Thais have blended these familiar motifs with the foreign designs of India, China, Sri Lanka, Persia, Burma, Cambodia, and Europe to create a unique repertory of decorative art. These birds, beasts, and blossoms ornament the fine arts of painting and sculpture as well as the crafts of ceramics, textiles, wood and ivory carvings, silver repousse, lacquerware, nielloware, and mother-of-pearl inlay. Following age-old traditions, Thais decorate their temples, palaces, and village huts with a unique mixture of realistic and mythic, native and foreign design. Devout Buddhist patrons commission artists to adorn their temples with detailed statues, elaborate architectural fittings, furniture, and utensils. Artists continue to create sumptuous works of gold, silver, or precious gems for Thai royalty. Ordinary Thais, even today, enliven their existence with nature motifs: women wear bright skirts decorated with lush flowers, rural villagers carve elephants on their ox-carts. Unfortunately, modern adornment often lacks the vitality of earlier works. Few older pieces have survived the destruction of war, tropical heat, rain, and insects. Yet, those articles that remain are a legacy to a distinctive Thai art that delights in sinuous vines, flickering flames, budding flowers, flitting birds, and gambolling beasts. This book traces the evolution of nature motifs and explores their symbolism in Thai crafts and fine arts.

Luxuriant tropical plants, colourful birds, and abundant wildlife have inspired Thai artists for centuries. Adding to their own resources, the Thais adapted the arts of India, China, Sri Lanka, Persia, Burma, Cambodia, and Europe. Blending native and foreign motifs, they created a unique repertory of design in a wide variety of artistic media. This book traces the evolution of nature motifs and their symbolism in Thai crafts and fine arts.