Royal Image (P'ra rup); Bust Of King Mongkut, Rama IV
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1876
name: label: Donor Name
content: Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition, Royal Siamese Commission
notes: label: Notes
content: THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE 1876 CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION IN PHILADELPHIA, AND APPEARS IN SEVERAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EXHIBIT AND IN THE U.S. NAVY CATALOGUE. (SOURCE: LISA MCQUAIL TAYLOR). SEE ALSO 4003A. See Library of Congress photo LC-USZ62-57242, "Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Siamese display, Naval Exhibit", http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005675976/ . This bust is apparently included in the display in the photo. A photo of what appears to be this bust on display with other Thai artifacts at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia is in the Free Library of Philadelphia collections and is available online: Centennial Photographic Co.. General view Siamese presents to U.S. Government. Stereoviews. Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA. https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/2019. (accessed Oct 17, 2017) See also entry p. 71 in United States Centennial Commission, A. T. Goshorn, Francis Amasa Walker, and Dorsey Gardner. 1880. ... International exhibition, 1876. [Reports]. Washington: Govt. Print. Off. A photo of this bust on display (on top of cabinet on right hand side) at the Smithsonian circa 1879 (photo may actually date more specifically to 1882 - early 1885) is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 2962 or MNH-2962, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder: 4, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8263 .
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD for 4003A (A NUMBER THIS OBJECT WAS FORMERLY LISTED UNDER); THIS CARD WAS APPARENTLY TYPED IN 1966: "THIS IS A PLASTER BUST ON A SMALL BASE, SHOWING THE KING IN A MILITARY UNIFORM, WITH AN INSIGNIA ON HIS CHEST. PAINTED BLUE AND RED. THIS ITEM WAS FOUND WITHOUT CAT. NO. IN 1966, AND THOUGH OBVIOUSLY FROM THIS KING, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ITS RECEIPT, WHEN THE ORIGINAL LISTS OF 1856 WERE EXAMINED IN 1969. IN 1966 AT THE REQUEST OF DR. E. KNEZ, JOHN SCOON OF THE U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY OBTAINED THE ASSISTANCE OF MRS. KENNETH LANDON, WHO WROTE "ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM" AND SPECIALIZES IN 19TH. C. THAI HISTORY CONCERNING THIS ITEM. IT IS HER JUDGMENT THAT THE BUST IS NOT OF PIERCE'S TIME, BECAUSE THE DECORATIONS WERE NOT USED IN SIAM UNTIL A LATER TIME. SO THIS ITEM. MAY HAVE COME TO THE MUSEUM WITH SOME LATER MATERIALS FROM SIAM, OR AT ONE OF THE EXPOSITIONS."
label: Notes
content: Painted plaster bust of Thai King Maha Mongkut, Rama IV. Illus. Fig. 6, p. 28 in: Lisa McQuail; 1997; Treasures of Two Nations: Thai Royal Gifts to the United States of America; Washington, DC: Asian Cultural History Program, Smithsonian Institution. The information that follows is from that publication: This painted plaster bust of King Mongkut is a portrait unusually Western in style. King Mongkut's decorations are the Ancient and Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems and the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant. The years of King Mongkut's reign are painted in English on a label at the base of the bust. The artist was most probably Phra Ong Chao (Prince) Pradit Warakan, a distinguished sculptor and director of Royal artists in the Royal Arts Guild Chang Sip Mu. Prince Pradit created sculptures of all of the past kings of Siam for the Royal Pantheon at the Grand Palace at the order of King Mongkut, Rama IV, a commission he completed during the reign of King Rama V. The norm in the history of Thai art was for artists to remain anonymous and works of art as a rule were not signed. Often these works were collaborative efforts undertaken in service to the King or to other patrons. It is through lists of the Chang Sip Mu that the identities of artists can be discovered. Artists' careers can be tracked through these lists, however, in the Thai system of ranks, their personal names were dropped in favor of titles of ranks. Unless specific works are cited in written histories of the court as works of a particular artist, we can only speculate that the artist in charge of the particular medium ultimately designed and directed the work. Height 80.14 cm x width at shoulders 50.6 cm x depth of base 20.6 cm. See also: Taylor, Lisa Mcquail. 1991. ""Articles of Peculiar Excellence" The Siam Exhibit At the U.S. Centennial Exposition (Philadelphia, 1876)." In The Journal of the Siam Society, 79 , no. 2: http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1991/JSS_079_2c_Taylor_ArticlesOfPeculiarExcellencePhiladelphia1876.pdf .
label: Notes
content: This bust was located in the Anthropology collections in 1966 without a catalogue number. At that time it was at first called catalogue # 4003A, but then was later changed to # 27439. This bust appears to be identical in form and details with the bust of Mongkut displayed at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia (illustrated in Taylor 1991 p. 14), with one discrepancy. The discrepancy is that the bust currently in the Anthropology collections is brightly painted, however the bust shown in photos taken at the Centennial appears to be unpainted. The Smithsonian U. S. National Museum Annual Report for the year 1889 (the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889) has an entry which may be relevant to this question. On p. 110, under the heading "Colorist", it is noted that A. Zeno Shindler "... spent a considerable part of the year repainting a collection of fish casts for the Cincinnati Exposition." It then goes on to note that he did painting work for the Ethnological Department, including this information: "Life-size busts of the King of Siam, King Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands and Miss Fairchild, have also been painted." So, the bust currently called E27439 appears to be the bust that Shindler painted in 1888/1889. This is a link to a scanned online copy of p. 110 of the Annual Report: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8972756 . See also pp. 116-117 in Taylor, Paul Michael, 2018. "Reinterpreting King Chulalongkorn's Royal Gift of Theatrical Images at Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exposition." Arts of Asia 48(3):114-124 (May-June 2018).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 27 Jul 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Thailand, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 005318
label: USNM Number
content: E27439-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bust
physicalDescription: label: Height - Object
content: 83 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 57 cm