Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ONE OF THE side effects of the Vietnam war has been the
appearance of large numbers of beautifully cast bronze frog drums
on the art markets of the world. Since most came from Laos, where
many were purchased directly or indirectly from the Kha or Khamu
people who inhabit the remote upland areas of the northern part of
the country, they are often referred to as Kha or Laotian drums.
There is now available quite a body of research which strongly
suggests that some of these drums seen today were probably made
in eastern Burma by Shan craftsmen for their primary customers,
the Karen, a distinct minority people straddling the mountains which
separate Burma and Thailand.
The drums were also used to summon the Karen ancestor spirits, to
remind them to be on hand to witness important ceremonies such
as marriage, house-warmings and funerals. At the same time the
sound of the drums implored them to look kindly on their kin below
and, when necessary in times of stress and misfortune, to use their
good offices in securing favours from the Nat spirits to ease the
burdens of those below.
The Karen also believed that a spirit resided within the drum and at
times it was thought beneficial to propitiate it with small bowls of
liquor and rice. Failure to do so might result in the early death of the
owner. Any changes to the surface of the drum were carefully
noted. For example, condensation on the surface was not regarded
as a good omen; it was interpreted as weeping and if nothing was
done, sickness and death could result. To avert such a calamity, a
ritual was performed with the blood of a chicken to appease the
spirit of the drum. The Rev. Harry Marshall, a leading authority on
the Karen people, has mentioned that some drums were regarded
as auspicious and others inauspicious. He also talks of "hot" drums
that were beaten at time of death and disaster, and "cool" ones
used for festive occasions. Unfortunately there is nothing physically
different to make a definite distinction between the two types of
drums. Some of the more notable ones were given special names
which when translated could have meanings such as "great
resonance", "pure tone", etc.
The Karen used to store their treasures in frog drums and bury them
secretly in the ground, believing that they could take their
possessions with them after death. Until the sixteenth century it was
the custom of the Shan, Karen and other tribes of eastern Burma at
the death of a chief to bury his possessions, including his wives,
elephants, weapons and other valued objects. The Karen, like other
drum users in Yunnan and Vietnam, were known to bury their drums
with their owners. Bayinnaung (1551-1581), one of Burma's greatest
conquerors who in his heyday ruled over all of Burma (and a large
part of Thailand) except for the Arakan coast, being a devout
Buddhist forbade such funerary practices. As a compromise, token
offerings were subsequently placed in graves. In place of a complete
drum, a piece often in the form of a frog was cut off and buried.
Hence some of the older frog drums may be incomplete or repaired.
Lacquered and gold leafed frog drums set in horizontal stands were
important items of ritual in the Thai court, to be beaten when the
king appeared, and they were used intermittently by Thai royalty
even to this day. In a ceremony held on October 20th, 1982 when
Queen Sirikit formally presented the Phra Buddha Nava Rajaboptr
image to the city of Bangkok, frog drums formed part of the
paraphernalia carried in procession. The Thai kings were known to
give them to monasteries on occasions. King Rama IV, on his ascent
to the throne, donated several frog drums to Wat Ba Wan and Wat
Phra Keow. His successor Rama V, carrying on the tradition, gave
two such drums to Wat Bencha. The ex-king of Laos is reported as
formerly having from thirty to forty bronze drums in his possession.
The Karen also believed that the bronze drums linked them to their
remote past. Some associate the origin of the drums with Pu Maw
Taw, considered to be one of their early ancestors. He was a diligent
farmer who daily tended his steep hill rice fields located close to a
cave. His efforts to harvest his grain were constantly being
hampered by the depredations of a band of monkeys which
continually stole his grain. In despair the old man wearily lay down
and pretended to be dead. On finding him in a prone position, the
monkeys clustered around him, remorsefully saying, we have eaten
his grain, now he is dead. Let us perform a proper funeral for him."
With that they carried his body to the mouth of the cave. Several
monkeys then went to get their drums, which it appears they were
in the habit of using for funeral rites. Of the three drums brought,
one was of gold, another silver and the third white in appearance.
As the monkeys were beating the drums, the patriarch sat up and
began gazing around. This unexpected action caused the monkeys
to flee in terror, leaving their drums behind. Pu Maw Taw took them
and they became the most sacred possessions of the Karen people,
who subsequently worshipped them in an annual ceremony.
Unfortunately squabbles amongst the various Karen groups caused
the drums to be stolen and lost to posterity.
To begin the process and form the inside contour of the drum, a
hollow clay core is built up from finely wedged red clay mixed with
rice husks in the proportions of two parts of clay to one part rice
husks. When sufficiently hardened, it is smoothed by turning on a
lathe. It is then coated two to three times with a slip made from
yellow clay mixed with finely strained powdered cow dung. After
further shaping on a lathe, the form may be covered with a glue of
boiled rice water which helps serve as an adhesive for the wax.
Small sprues one to two inches long, which provide conduits for the
molten metal and escape routes for the wax and gases, are set at
various intervals over the surface of the drum. A slip of white clay
mixed with rice husks is carefully applied over the whole wax
surface, great care being taken to fill in all the tiniest crevices of the
designs. A thick three to four inch layer of clay kneaded with either
rice husks or horse dung is applied to form the outer mould. The
inner and outer moulds are aligned with small iron rods.
To harden the clay core and to remove the wax, the mould is fired in
a kiln constructed of mud and bricks. The molten metal, usually
consisting of a mixture of copper, lead, tin and zinc in varying
quantities, is poured into the mould from a ceramic crucible. Once
the metal has been poured in, the mould is completely covered with
earth and allowed to cool slowly for several days. When cold, the
mould is broken open to reveal the drum which is then cleaned and
rubbed smooth. The sprues and any other rough projections are
filed even with the surface. The colour of the drum depends on the
alloys used in casting and ranges from black and reddish brown"to
greenish turquoise. The value of a drum depends on the metal
content, the tonal quality, the artistry of the design and its ritual
efficacy.
Type I
As with all bronze drums, a slightly raised star adorns the centre of
the tympanum. This star has an even number rays for instance
eight, ten, twelve, fourteen or sixteen, the points of which may be
relatively short or thread-like in shape. On the one-frog drums the
star usually has only eight rays, but there are exceptions to this.
Between the rays of the star may be seen an engraved heart-
shaped motif which resembles a resting butterfly with wings folded.
On the earlier drums this may be quite large, while on later
examples it decreases in size and may entirely disappear.
Occasionally there are small rosettes and circles between the outer
rays of the star, the tips of which may overlap into the first two to
three narrow concentric rings surrounding the star. These slightly
raised rings spread out in ever widening circles, dividing up the
entire surface of the tympanum into bands for decoration. The
number of rings between each band varies with the number of frogs
superimposed on the tympanum. The smaller, earlier frog drums
average about fourteen decorative bands separated by single rings,
while the more recent three-frog drums usually have about nineteen
bands separated by a series of triple concentric rings.
Following the set of geometric motifs closest to the star there may
be a single band of small stylised birds commonly referred to as
ducks, which on the earliest drums are depicted as round and plump
in a standing position. On later drums they change into a tear-drop
shape and appear to be floating. Eventually this evolves into a
highly stylised form with only the head and neck in a stretching
position depicted, so close together that at first glance it takes on
the appearance of a curved geometric pattern. These birds have
been called ducks because this bird is very important in Karen
folklore and was thought to ferry the souls of the deceased to the
nether world. On the earlier drums this duck motif is usually
immediately followed by a flag-like design that has been called an
"owl" by Dr Cooler, the foremost authority on Karen drums. It consis
ts of a small rectangle with one and a half to two circles or eyes
located at one end, parallel lines and V-shaped lines filling up the
remainder of the rectangle. This motif may be found in pairs on
some drums; it disappears on the later ones and the space is filled
up with other decoration.
A pair of superimposed
frogs. Note the braiding
around the perimeter of
the drum
Handles attached on
either side of the seam.
Note the wave-like
decoration at the bottom
of the decorated
concentric bands
With the end of the Vietnam war and the subsequent closure of Laos
to foreign contact, the export of drums from that area has largely
ceased. Although there is still a trickle of genuine drums from
Burma, there are not enough to meet the demand, and prices have
soared. From a mere US$50-I00 in Vietnam war days, a good drum
in Bangkok will cost US$IOOO-1500 today.
While present-day owners of frog drums may not be aware that their
bronze ornament or side table may have been the cause of tribal
warfare or an important instrument in the ritual of Karen life, they
should rejoice in the knowledge that as the owners of such a
cherished object, they "are