Wang Suan Pakkad
 
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Location of the Wang Suan Pakkad |
Wang Suan Pakkad or Suan Pakkad Palace ( Thai วัง สวน ผัก กาด , literally: Vegetable Garden Palace ) is a museum in Bangkok , the capital of Thailand . It is located on Sri Ayutthaya Road in the Ratchathewi district , south of the Victory Monument .
It is the first museum in Thailand whose owners, Prince and Princess Chumbhot of Nagara Svarga, decided to open their private residence as a museum to the public. It was opened in 1952.
The museum consists of several buildings that are built in traditional Thai style. They contain the prince and princess's collection of antiques, some of which have been in the family for generations. Including traditional paintings on cloth and wood, Buddha statues , antique furniture , a collection of Khon masks and even some items from the Ban Chiang era.
The paint pavilion
history
The highlight of the museum, however, is the “paint pavilion”. This unique building was discovered by Prince and Princess Chumbhot in 1958. At that time it was located in Wat Ban Kling, a Buddhist temple ( wat ) on the banks of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya ( Chao Phraya River ) between Ayutthaya and Bang Pa-in . The exact age has not yet been determined, but it seems certain that this building was initially part of the royal residence in Ayutthaya. It was only later taken apart and reassembled at Wat Ban Kling. They were originally two separate buildings, one was a Hor Trai , a library, the other a Hor Khian, a room with wall paintings. The Hor Trai was a single room surrounded by an open gallery, it was built on high stilts to protect against flooding. The Hor Khian was a somewhat larger pavilion with walls only on three sides. In the 1940s, the Hor Khian was on the verge of decay. Believers from the surrounding villages therefore took both buildings apart, restored the individual parts as best they could, and then built a single building out of it: a Hor Trai with a room in the middle, which was surrounded by a narrow corridor.
renovation
When the prince couple discovered this building, heavily weathered traces of a black and gold lacquer painting ( Thai : Lai Rot Nam , ลาย รดน้ำ , literally: drawing washed out with water ) could be discovered on the walls . With the permission of the abbot of Wat Ban Kling, after building a new pavilion and a pier on the river, they were allowed to undergo a thorough renovation of the pavilion in their Bangkok residence. Two well-known artists and craftsmen, Mr. Sawang Panya-Ngam and Mr. Udom Chuvanond, were commissioned to resurrect the wonderful gold lacquer paintings. On March 8, 1959, the restored pavilion was opened at Wat Ban Kling in the presence of the happily surprised believers.
Determination of age
If one looks at the details of the paintings, the robes of the French and Dutch people depicted, as well as the clothing of the Thai noblemen, the creation can be dated to the time of King Narai . Some of the mythological figures of the wood carvings on the railing of the gallery, which partly consist of animal and partly human elements, are examples of how they were popular in the time of King Narai. Furthermore, the quality of the original work suggests that the buildings were built for a king. If they had been built in Rattanakosin time, the pavilion would not have been built in Wat Ban Kling, but in Thonburi or Bangkok. It is therefore likely that they were brought to safety in Ayutthaya at the time of the Burmese invasion in the 18th century.
literature
- The Lacquer Pavilion at Suan Pakkad Palace . published by Princess Chumbhot of Nagara Svarga, printed by Pikhanes Press, Bangkok 1960, without ISBN
Web links
- Official homepage of the Suan Pakkad Palace Museum (in English and Thai)
Coordinates: 13 ° 45 ′ 24.6 ″ N , 100 ° 32 ′ 13.6 ″ E