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Gold jewelry
In 1957, pillagers uncovered the
country’s richest treasure trove: a hoard of
gold objects interred in the crypt below the 15th
century tower of Wat
Ratchaburana in Ayutthaya. Although much had been lost, archaeologists from the
Fine Arts Department managed to secure some 2000 pieces, including a spectacular
collection of gold regalla, ornaments and jewelry. Now on display at the Chao
Sam Phraya National Museum, the jewelry reveals the high level of gold
workmanship, and the wealth associated with aristocratic life of the period.
The manufacture of gold jewelry, however, did not begin in Ayutthaya. The
Khmeres, who controlled large parts of the country until the 13th century,
certainly used gold, and pieces have been found at Sukhothai. The engraved slabs
at Wat Si Chum in Sukhothai, illustrating the Jataka tales (which relate the
previous lives of the historical Buddha), show figures wearing elaborate
adornments, including necklaces and crowns. The 1292 inscription attributed to
King Ramkamhaeng specifically allows free trade in silver and gold, although the
wearing of gold was restricted by sumptuary laws to the nobility, and free use
of bold ornamentation was allowed only from the mid- 19th century, under King
Rama V.
Ayutthayan work was the high point in the history of gold jewelry. Nicholas
Gervais, a French Jesuit missionary writing in the late 17th century was of the
opinion that “Siamese goldsmiths are scarcely less skilled than ours.
They make thousands of little gold and silver ornaments, which are the most
elegant objects in the world. Nobody can damascene more delicately than they nor
do filigree work better. They use very little solder, for they are so skilled at
binding together and setting the pieces of metal that it is difficult to see the
joints.”
Gold work was revived under King Rama I in Bangkok after the defeat at
Ayutthaya, and foreign visitors frequently noted the enthusiasm of wealthy Thais
for gold ornament. Yet this very enthusiasm may ultimately have played a part in
the decline of traditional Thai gold smithing, for during the 19th century, when
King Rama V became the first monarch to travel abroad, a number of foreign
jewelers set up branches in Bangkok, including Faberge. Chinese immigrant
goldsmiths catered to clients with less refined tastes. The Norwegian traveler
Carl Bock wrote in 1888: “The manufacture of gold and silver jewelry, which is
carried on to a large extent in Bangkok, is entirely in the hands of the
Chinese.” Today, it is in the town of Petchaburi, southwest of Bangkok, that
descendants of early master goldsmiths keep the old tradition of gold work
alive.
02. December 2004