A University of Sussex PhD thesis
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Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details From Commissions to Commemoration: the Re-creation of King Chulalongkorn and His Court, and the Thai Monarchy through Westernised Art and Western Art Collection
Volume One
Eksuda Singhalampong
Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex May 2016 !iii
UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
EKSUDA SINGHALAMPONG: CANDIDATE FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (DPhil)
FROM COMMISSIONS TO COMMEMORATION: THE RE-CREATION OF KING CHULALONGKORN AND HIS COURT, AND THE THAI MONARCHY THROUGH WESTERNISED ART AND WESTERN ART COLLECTION
SUMMARY
Official Thai history gives the iconic role of King Chulalongkorn as the civiliser of which is the theme underpinning my study. This thesis aims to complicate this narrative by investigating the historical specificity of Chulalongkorn’s visual representation operating with the mechanisms of westernisation. The study discusses how the King presented and represented his royal person and his regal power and how the King consequently changed and shaped Siam’s visual and material culture at the turn of the century. Chulalongkorn’s royal family portraits and grand architectural programme, as well as his European art collection recreated a new concept of Siamese kingship and the monarchy: this wide-ranging analysis traces the shift from a semi- divine to a secular and modernised monarchy. This thesis argues that the westernisation programme was a process and product of transcultural exchange within the colonial encounters between Siam, the West and their colonies. Chulalongkorn’s appropriation, adaptation and reinterpretation of Western art doubly transformed the monarchy and its kingdom into a modernising nation under the pressure of Western colonialism. This compelled Siam to become a crypto-colonial state of nation. Chulalongkorn’s aspiration for westernised visual representation turned political loyalty into religious devotion in later years. Collective memory of Chulalongkorn was strongly embedded in the public’s perception through the practice of remembrance, nostalgia and commemoration fed by the royalist narrative in official Thai history. This thesis also contributes to an ongoing dialogue on the relations between the monarchy, memory and national identity through an investigation of celebratory exhibitions of the Chakri Dynasty. The issues of visual representation and its impact addressed in this thesis are arguably as bound up with issues of national identity and national politics. !iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following who have made it possible for me to complete the doctoral thesis. Firstly to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Meaghan E. Clarke, who has been very supportive and has guided me throughout my PhD study and related research. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I am very grateful for her patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Secondly, I also have to thank Prof. Liz James for her advice and insightful suggestions. Thirdly, my utmost gratefulness goes to my sponsor, the Royal Thai Government who awarded a full scholarship to support my PhD study and this thesis for which I am very thankful. The thesis has been generously supported by numerous libraries and institutions: in Bangkok, Silpakorn University’s Central Library, Thammasat University Libraries, the Damrong Rajanubhap Library, the National Library of Thailand, the National Gallery; in London, the British Library, the National Art Library, the V&A and the University of Sussex’s library. Also of great assistance have been Yutthanawarakon Saeng-aram at the National Museum Bangkok, Disapong Netlomwong at the Office of National Museums, the National Archives of Thailand, the Bureau of the Royal Household and the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary, Thailand. I have also frequently made use of the digital library database: the Internet Archive, a San Francisco-based non profit library for digitised rare books both in Thai and English languages. I am wholeheartedly thankful to the providers and contributors of this website. I am particularly grateful to Piyawara Teekara Natenoi, Piyamon Kingpratoommas and Parichat Saengsirikulchai at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Bangkok, Praphaphan Chuenkaek at Queen Savang Vadhana Museum, Srapathum Palace, Bangkok and Tatchai Yodphichai at the Matichon Public Co., Ltd. Without their kindly support I would not have been able to include so many valuable reproduction images in the thesis. Research presented in this thesis, in great measure, wouldn’t have accomplished without a vital help and support I gratefully received from many individuals as highlighted below. My special thanks goes to Preedaphon Iamchae and my colleagues at the Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University: Patsaweesiri Preamkulanan, Rungroj Thamrungraeng, Achirat Chaiyapotpanit, Prabhassara Chuvichean, Arunee Atta and Woramas Thanphattarakul, as well as Emma Doubt and Anne Stutchbury, my fellow PhD candidates at the Department of Art History, University of Sussex whose tremendous help largely contributed to this research. I would like to thank Sunantha Wannasin Bell for being supportive throughout my time here and for helping me with proofreading. I am also very much indebted to Thanavi Chotpradit for insightful discussions that helped me to focus on several sections in the thesis. I will forever be thankful to Dr. Sayan Daengklom, my former tutor and my colleague at the Department of Art History, Silpakorn University for being so generous and helpful with sharing his sharp method of criticism. He has been a constant source of support and influence in my study of art history. He was and remains my best role model for an art historian, mentor, and teacher. I also thank my friends whom I cannot list in full here for providing support and friendship that I needed. Foremost, I would like to express my utmost gratitude and love to my family: my parents and my brothers who has been encouraging, supportive throughout writing this thesis and my life in general.