Page 49 - Export Porcelain and Globakization- GOOD READ

In Si Satchanalai, the second Thai kiln center, the variety of ceramic products is
bigger than in Sukhothai: potters produced underglaze iron decorated stoneware,
celadons, brown, white and black monochromes. Generally, these products are also
named Swankhalok ware. The celadon ware has usually incised or carved decoration
of flowers under a thick translucent glaze. The underglaze black ceramics (see plates
191 & 192) were inspired by Chinese blue and white porcelains of the Yuan and Ming
84
dynasty, and by Vietnamese blue and white ceramics . However, the influences of
Chinese celadons from Longquan on the Thai celadons from Si Satchanalai are much
more obvious. When the Ming ban came into effect, the potters of Si Satchanalai took
advantage of the shortage of Chinese products in the inner Asian market. The kilns of
Si Satchanalai exported ceramics continuously – mainly to Indonesia and the
Philippines – from sometime in the late 14th century until about 1580 when the area
was depopulated under the impact of wars with Burma. Si Satchanalai celadon plates
comprised the primary cargo for practically all the middle 15th century shipwrecks.
At that time the area belonged to the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya. The Royal
Nanhai, a Siamese junk on the way to Java, that sunk in 1460 had a big cargo of Si
Satchanalai celadons. More than 21,000 items were recovered in 1992 by the
85
maritime archaeologist Sten Sjostrand (plate 195) .
The history of glazed ceramics is not restricted to the Sukhothai Kingdom alone.
Several kilns have been found in northern Thailand in the city of Kalong and
Sankampaeng. However, these ceramics have mainly been made for local use rather
than for export.
Ayutthaya itself was never an important ceramic center but a relevant entrepot both
for the inter-Asian ceramic trade and for the Eurasian spice trade. Most of the
86
European East India companies had trade posts in Ayutthaya – the Venice of the East .
In 1608 a Siamese delegation visited Amsterdam and in 1635 the Dutch VOC built a
permanent warehouse in Ayutthaya and stayed there for more than 130 years. Around
1700, Ayutthaya was one of the biggest cities in the world. The capital of Siam got
destroyed in 1767 by a Burmese army and the new Thai royal dynasty moved to
Bangkok.
87
Pic. 22: Siamese capital Ayutthaya, copper engraving by Mallet , 1686

The more than 600 year old tradition of celadon production in Thailand is still vivid
48