Brick Depicting a West Asian Merchant Wearing a Kupeeyok Hat
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This building brick incised with a depiction of a foreign merchant of West Asian—perhaps Sogdian—origin was recovered during renovation work at Chedi Chula Pathon. International merchants in Southeast Asia frequented Dvaravati centers in central Thailand. Persians and other traders from the west, including India, participated in the long-distance trade that linked mainland Southeast Asia to the greater Indian Ocean world. Trade with the emerging port polities of mainland Southeast Asia was a profitable activity during the seasonal stopover in Southeast Asia, when exotic western goods could be exchanged for the forest wealth of the region.
cat. no. 11
cat. no. 11
Artwork Details
- Title: Brick Depicting a West Asian Merchant Wearing a Kupeeyok Hat
- Date: early 8th century
- Culture: Central Thailand
- Medium: Terracotta
- Dimensions: H. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); W. 4 3/4 in. (12 cm); D. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by Phra Pathom Chedi National Museum, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (609/2519)
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art