What Shape is your Elephant Pt. 2 Wildlife As Contemporary Representations Of Culture, Society And...

ASIA PACIFIC SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APSA) CONFERENCE

TRANSFORMING SOCIETIES: CONTESTATIONS AND CONVERGENCES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Wildlife As Contemporary Representatons Of Culture, Society And Heritage InSouth East Asia: The Case Of The Elephant

Dr David L HumeBurupha University Internatonal College

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INTRODUCTIONThis paper sets out to explore how the elephant, as represented in the art and craf tradi-tons of the ancient civilisatons that ranged across the natons that now comprise part of South East Asia, is represented today and what infuence those art and craf traditons have on the contemporary producton of tourist souvenirs.

A number of issues have arisen from previous sectons of this research (Hume 2013b). Firstly and most interestng is the diferent confguraton of elephant souvenirs representng Sukhothai and Khmer cultures. Most prominent among the depicton of elephants on the stone friezes at Bayon, Angkor Wat, are warring and pre or post confict ceremonial ele-phants. This style is also dominant in museum collectons of Sukhothai ceramic sculpture, yet in museum collectons of elephant fgurines from the Khmer civilisataton it is a seden-tary obese elephant form that prevails (See Brown, 2009; Pinsri, 2010; Richards, 1995; Rooney, 2010; Shaw, 2009; Vitharins, 2005). Why then has one culture come to be repre-sented through athletc elephants symbolising aggression and the other, not unrelated cul-ture, through sedentary obese models of the same animal.

These museum artfacts, many collected during the colonial era, may be viewed as proto souvenirs, (Batkin, 1999; Brody, 1976; Graburn, 1976; Hume 2013; Lee, 1999; Pearce, S. 1995) collected by those in the employ of the colonial project, traders or missionaries. Whilst the aforementoned artfacts were collected prior to the onset of the current mass tourism industry, the artfacts of souvenirs collected by today’s tourist are form equally by the host culture and the demands of the tourist (Graburn, 1976; Hume 2013; Richards, G. 2013). There have been a number of studies carried out into the development of souvenirs and the impact tourism has on the arts and crafs of visited cultures, mostly in regions far from the focus of this project (Brody, 1976; Graburn, 1976; Steiner, C. B. 1999 and others). While other scholars (Buller, 2004; Catlin et al, 2013; Franklin, 2010 and others) have made astudy of wildlife tourism, iconography and its contributon to natonal identty, few, with the excepton of Cohen (1995) have sought to examine the impact of tourism on the arts and crafs of this region

With this in mind the above queston might well be reframed as follows: why do tourists record their experience with, not unrelated, cultures so diferently, what messages do such

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souvenirs say about those cultures and places and furthermore what convergences in designhave occurred as a result of increased mobility and tourism.

To get at these questons this paper examines currently available souvenirs in the light of museum artfacts, to try to discover how and what these objects say to the tourist and aboutthe experienced cultures.

METHODOLOGY: SOUVENIR THEORYIn the main secton of this paper I will assess the language of surveyed artfacts and sou-venirs encountered during this research, in order to discover how such objects speak to tourists, or in the case of museum artfacts, what they might have communicated to the col-lector as a proto tourist. I will then apply the same analytcal approach to a survey of ce-ramic elephants sighted at two showrooms in Chiang Mai.

From the local traditons, in partnership with touristc development, has emerged todays proftable souvenir industry, as tourists seek a momento of a once in a lifetme experience, an aide memoir, that will recall a deviant engagement with an(Other) place, people or life-style. To achieve this the object must frstly speak of the place and/or people but also pro-vide space for the inscripton of the touristc narratve, thereby keeping the experience alive.

There are a number of elements that contribute to the visual language or code and the suc-cess of any souvenir. The following methodology sets out fve axis points of souvenir expres-sion, that amount to components of a visual language. Each axis point will be assessed indi-vidually leading to a graphic summary of the visual code of each artfact. The elements of expression, in no partcular, are order outlined below, for more detailed explanaton see Hume (2013):

MediaWhat material consttutes the object/artfact and what is the importance of this material in its actvity as a souvenir? This axis point seeks to discover the importance of the material thesouvenir is made from in its ability to recall the experience.

Maker’s MarkWhat level of human interventon has the object/artfact undergone and how important is it to its functon as a souvenir? This axis point seeks to discover the importance of the produc-ton process and evidence of that be it singular or collectve, by name or style.

RelatonalWhat does the object/artfact relate to? that is the simple narratve it carries regarding peo-ple and or place. As a narratve component this axis seeks to defne the thematc base of the

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object or artfact, framed as a souvenir. This feature gauges the relatonship between the tourist and the site. Some souvenirs relate the tourist’s experience of the site alone, while others speak of the people that inhabit that site. This axis assesses that relatonship and be-gins with those restricted to references of the environmental specifcs of the place, rated as one (1); then, sliding up to those that relate to people and place, rated at fve (5) and fnally people and/or place, rated at ten (10).

InvitatonalThat is the souvenirs ability to accept the collector narratve as part of its ongoing presence. What is the object/artfact’s capacity to absorb the tourist’s narratve?The Invitatonal axis assesses the way the narratve of the souvenir is progressed. It refers to and favour's the souvenir's capacity to accept the collector’s narratve of experience and therefore assesses the completeness of the souvenir’s narratve prior to collecton.

IconofetshThat is the assessment of the souvenirs’ functon as fetsh or icon. Where does the inherent narratve of the object/artfact reside?The last of these narratve components explores the Iconofetsh nature of the souvenir and is a further refnement of the souvenir’s intrinsic narratve quality. The Iconofetsh axis seeks to plot the development of this quality in each class of souvenir, best explained as follows:

This atribute gauges the degree of... ‘largesse’ to be found in the souvenir; that is the iconographic re-cepton of the artfact...the complex content of the narratve, while the Relatonal axis is concerned withthe narratve in its simple reference to place, people and place, and people and/or place. This atributeis concerned with the sacred quality and value of the souvenir’s features, as authorised or not, throughthe collectve gaze of the tourist and host community.

(Hume 2013)

Most of the artfacts surveyed, so far in this research, fall into the Crafed category of sou-venir, that is they are produced from an endemic medium interpreted through the craf tra-ditons of the site of collecton, as opposed to Sampled or Representatve souvenirs that are unmediated by human craf or bare no features of endemic media or style respectvely (ibid).

In the following assessment I will include museum artfacts as well as contemporary sou-venirs, for the collecton of said artfacts is quite likely to have occurred from a touristc type engagement, whether he or she was a missionary, military personnel, explorer, anthropolo-gist, government ofcer or grand tourist (See Hume 2013; Graburn 1976; Philips & Steiner 1998).

The expressive elements of surveyed souvenirs and artfacts will be assessed based on a scale between 1 and 10. This assessment is not hierarchical, that is one element should not

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be considered more important than another. For that reason the elements that contribute tothe holistc language of each souvenir are shown graphically as an expressive patern pro-duced from axis points. The original framing of this system of assessment was developed to diferentate between the three categories of souvenir: Sampled, Crafed and Representa-tve, requiring that two of the elements are rated from 10 to 1 rather than the conventonal 1- 10. However all the artfacts and souvenirs examined in this paper clearly fall into Hume's (2013) Crafed category, thereby permitng the more conventonal system of assessment. Beginning with the earliest produced item I will frst assess elephant fgures found in mu-seum collecton.

MUSEUM ARTIFACTSKhmer Elephant Figurines (Fig.1) - Rotund Vessel – Ceramic

Media: 2This artfact is made of clay and fnished with a glaze par-tcular to the Khmer region and period. However, this is only likely to be known from specialist knowledge of the history of ceramics or Khmer heritage and therefore should register a ratng of 2 in that the media of the art-fact is not of overriding importance in its functon as a sou-venir.Maker’s mark: 9Due to the partcularites of the style it is without doubt a

souvenir of Khmer heritage and therefore should register a ratng of 9.Relatonal: 8This artfact clearly relates to people through it’s decoraton and functon, which is indelibly ted to place. The ratng along this scale is therefore high at 8. A maximum ratng here wouldonly be achieved if the artfact actually stated clearly that it was of Khmer origin, which would reduce the aesthetc value.Invitatonal: 7Any artfact that invites engagement beyond the decoratve records a high ratng along this axis point. As a vessel this souvenir may be utlised in such a way, if not for its original use. However its use is limited to decoratve enhancement rather than everyday use and there-fore records a moderately high score.Iconofetsh: 8The elephant is an icon of many natons of the ASEAN region, while in this form it clearly ref-erences the heritage of Angkor Wat, itself an undoubted icon, so should be accorded a re-spectul ratng in this scale of (8).

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Sukhothai Elephant Figurines (Fig. 2)

Media: 5This is ceramic and not recognisably distnctve. The surface fnish, being a celadon glaze is more distnctve and suggestsan advanced technology probably learnt from Chinese pot-ters. Therefore the media is not crucial in its functon or po-tental functon as a souvenir. (5)Maker’s Mark: 8This is much more distnctve in that the style can be recog-nised as emanatng from the site of Sukhothai. Such confg-uratons are not found in Cambodia or Vietnam. (8), nor in-deed far from the ancient site.Relatonal: 9The thematc base of this artfact is that of ancient Thai his-tory, that souvenir versions of this model are found around

the ancient Thai capital clearly relates its narratve to past periods of establishment and grandeur and the spectacle of a dominant culture. Therefore this element records a high rat-ing (9)Invitatonal: 2This artfact is purely decoratve and ofers very litle functonality thereby restrictng the col-lectors interacton and by extension development of tourist narratve. It may be said that thenarratve expressed by this fgurines in largely complete. It is like to be utered in the form of“They used to...”. Therefore records a ratng of around (2)Iconofetsh: 9Simply by being a model elephant the artfact is a highly fetshised object and approved as such by the communal gaze of tourists. Furthermore its status is enhanced through the host culture valuing its historical and sacred quality, therefore atractng a high ratng of (9)

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Relational Invitational

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Chart 1: Graphic Summary - Khmer Elephant Figurines (Fig.1) - Rotund Vessel – Ceramic



Vietnamese Elephant Ewer Vessels (Fig. 3)Medium: 2This assesses the importance of the raw material that consttutes the souvenir and the signifcance of this in the object/artfacts actvity as a souvenir. The structural medium is generic so not important, but the surface treatment that is the glaze is or was a lit-tle more specifc to the point of collecton. (2)Maker's mark: 6This assesses the level of human interventon that the object/artfact has undergone and how impor-

tant it is to its functon as a souvenir. The makers mark is absent in explicit statement, but the style is that which is recognised as being of Vietnam. This occurs in the surface decora-ton and in the simplifed design which renders the object more robust that it would if more detail was built into the design. (6)Relatonal: 5Defnes what the object/artfact relates to. It is clear in it's representaton of the subject and naton but does not explicitly represent and experience with animal. (5)Invitatonal: 7This measures the object/artfact's capacity to absorb the tourist's narratve. There is some opening for the tourist narratve to be atached but it is limited. As the detailed surface dec-oraton is large in expression. However it utlity as a ewer or teapot supports increased en-gagement and the capacity to enhance the collectors narratve (7)Iconofetsh: 4This investgates where the inherent narratve of the object/artfact resides. The inherent narratve addresses the status of the creature in the culture from which it is collected. As theanimal has iconic status in that country as it does in other SE Asian naton this should be

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Chart 2: Graphic Summary - Sukhothai Elephant Figurine (Fig. 2)

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large, but Vietnam does not identfy as the land of the elephant which which reduces this voice. (4)

Having assessed the above artIfacts for their potental souvenir functon it can be seen that, while they share a number of expressive elements, the confguraton of such elements re-sults in distnctve expressions. Some, such as those from Vietnam, are more reliant on the surface treatment to te the meaning to the visited site or area. Model elephants from Cam-bodia ofer a utlitarian engagement, enhancing the decoratve element, while ceramic mod-els from Thailand are more reliant on the sculptural form as a reference to heritage, that canalso be seen in those from Cambodia.

By combining the graphic summary of each artfact (Chart 4) It can seen that it is along the Relatonal axis, that a clear point of diference may be detected and this is an assessable ele-ment that needs to be expanded upon. Seeking to assess the way in which an artfact or sou-venir expresses the importance of people and / or place, quanttatve research into the geo-graphic range of the souvenir expression needs to be undertaken and monitored. Some years back Cohen (1995) described the ribbon development of souvenir stalls in Thailand, while more recently Bui and Jollife (2013) plot the extent of ceramic sales from a tourist ori-ented town in Vietnam. A similar type of survey would map the distance from the site of

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Chart 3: Graphic Summary - Vietnamese Elephant Ewer Vessel (Fig. 3)

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Maker's mark


Iconofetish0510

Chart 4: Combined Graphic Expression - Museum Elephant Figurines (Figs 1,2&3)

Khmer Elephant Figure Sukhothai Elephant FigureVietnamese Elephant Figure



meaning, say Sukhothai or Angkor Wat, that that link extends to. From a cursory survey the Angkor style incense burners do not seem to extend much beyond the specifc site, so too the Sukhothai models. On the other hand the Vietnamese fgurines are not ted to a specifc site but a much less defned area and natonal style and are more widespread. What hap-pens with the frst two examples is a shif to the more generic style, including changes in media, loss of cultural meaning through the negaton, or at least diluton of heritage and in-creased abstracton. To demonstrate this claim, I want to now apply the same analytcal tool to a selecton of the souvenirs cited in a previous paper (Hume 2013b), beginning with thosefound in Thailand.

SOUVENIR ELEPHANT FIGURESElephant Lamp: Thailand (Fig. 4)

The elephant lamp is available throughout Thailand and clearly shows no linkage to the status of the elephant in Thai culture, either sacred or profane.Media: 5This axis is strong, being formed in part from a coconut shell, being a tropical fruit strongly associated with tropi-cal but regions, but is not partcular to Thailand. It there-

fore is most likely to represent an experience with a broader region. (5)Maker’s Mark: 1Generic, non specifc, no stamp. (1)Relatonal: 1As noted above, such souvenirs are weak along this axis, referencing place only and broad generic one at that. (1)Invitatonal: 7The souvenir expression along this access is loud in the same way as the incense burner from Angkor is, in that it invited engagement through utlity (7) that enhances its decoratve element.Iconofetsh: 8Coconuts and elephants are both somewhat iconic of the region, however as result of the abandonment of any linkage to culture or heritage its appeal is largely fetshistc (8)

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What we can see from the above assessment and graphic summary is that the expression of this object demonstrates the development, through craf, of a sampled media into a sou-venir that, following Hume (2013), maybe located somewhere between the Crafed and Rep-resentatve categories.

Other souvenir objects that share a similar expressive patern are the family grouping (Fig. 5) from the Phuket Market. Made of local tmber, but non specifc wood, these souvenirs are atleast rescued from the generic range of elephant fgurines through the additon of the stylised howdah based on traditonal Thai design. A complete assessment of this example is as follows.

Family Group of Elephant Figurines: Thailand (Fig. 5)

Media: 1GenericMaker’s Mark:1NoneRelatonal: 5The additon of the stylised howdah, relates it to Thailand.Invitatonal: 5It is purely decoratve and invites litle further interacton.

Iconofetsh: 6This suite of souvenir elephants records (6) along this axis. There is no sign of any sample media which drags it way from the fetsh end of the scale. While the inclusion of the stylised howdah demands an enhanced recording of the iconic element.

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M edia

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Chart 5: Graphic Sum mary - Elephant Lam p: Thailand (Fig. 4)

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*It can be seen that this set of souvenirs, while mostly muted along the Media and Maker’s mark axis, is well balanced and more expressive along the remaining Relatonal, Invitatonal and Iconofetsh axis, which sees it located, more so than the preceding elephant lamp, closerto Hume's (ibid) Representatve category of souvenirs.

The fnal souvenir to be assessed is the ceramic plate again from the Phuket Market (Fig. 6). This most kitsch and perhaps less appealing of souvenirs is also possibly the most complex.Firstly it returns us to the inital media of this survey, but in this instance has litle sculptural value and clearly resides in Hume's Representatve category. It does not, however, represent Thai heritage, in terms of what is represented in the Sukhothai artfacts above, but it would be remiss to state that it is absent of cultural representaton. Nature and the environment are part of the palete from which, conventonally, culture is developed and the background of this naively composed scene depicts a tropical environment. This can be assessed as showing a linkage to a generic area, of which Thailand is a part, but not a specifc site. How-ever it is in the bald, but unspoken, statement of “We went to Thailand and rode an ele-phant.” that the souvenir expression is loudest. The meaning carried by this souvenir is com-plete, it needs no further elaboraton and on that level performs its intended functon com-pletely. The only questonable point here is that if travel and tourism functon as a develop-ment of the tourists identty and the artfacts, collected as aide memoirs, of that experience that demonstrate the collectors, “knowledge, power and wealth” (Pearce 1995) how many tourists are going to curate this as part of their home décor and what does is say about the collector. The following assessment of this most kitsch souvenir seeks to unravel its complex-ites.

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Chart 6: Graphic Summary - Family Group of Elephant Figurines: Thailand (Fig. 5)

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Ceramic Plate: Thailand (Fig. 6)Media: 0The material of producton is generic and insignifcant and therefore atracts a (0) along this axis.Maker's mark: 1Being mass produced and of serial producton, the makers mark has been muted, but we are clearly informed that it is from Thailand, so therefore atract a minimal register here or (1)Relatonal: 10It is here that the expression of this souvenir becomes un-equivocal, in that clearly states the country of visitaton and

the actvity undertaken, so therefore records a ratng of (10).Invitatonal: 2The souvenir's invitatonality is muted on two counts, frstly its meaning needs very litle fur-ther elaboraton from the collector and secondly its functon is limited to the decoratve and does not invite utlity in the way the coconut shell lamp does. It therefore atracts a ratng of (2) to refect its decoratve purpose.Iconofetsh: 8Along this axis this souvenir show more volume in its expression, in that the elephant is an icon of the visited site, and that riding elephants has become an expected actvity when vis-itng the site. It therefore atracts a substantal ratng of (8) to refect this iconic status, whichis tempered by the fact that elephants exist as animal of fetshistc atracton in the Western and touristc psyche.

It is in the kitschness of this souvenir, that taste is frst revealed, rather than “knowledge, power and wealth” of the collector, ascribed to the museum artfact. The ability to under-take such a touristc experience, might refect some degree of wealth but today such tourism

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Chart 7: Graphic Summary - Ceramic Plate: Thailand (Fig. 6)

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is more democratc in availability than during the period when today's museum collectons were being amassed through private collecton of the ruling class.

I now want to move the focus further east to examines elephant souvenirs from Cambodia and Vietnam respectvely.

Elephant Souvenir – Ceramic Incense Burner - Cambodia (Fig. 7)Media: 6From informaton gathered while carrying out feld research at the site of producton I discovered that the clay from which this cast is of the generic variety. The proprietor did inform me that access to the best local clay was now denied through the expansion of the Angkor World Heritage area.

Therefore the importance of the media is not what it might have been. However the very fact that it is ceramic demonstrates a strong link to the museum artfact of the Khmer pe-riod. (6)Maker’s mark: 5While an efort is made to tag this souvenir from its point of origin is it not an indelible mark in the traditon of a chop or stamp underneath. However this souvenir also functons as product of an artsanal workshop. where the tourist can see the souvenirs at various stages of producton and meet the poters. It therefore also operates as a souvenir of a visit to an Angkor region potery studio. It should therefore record a ratng (4) in line with most sou-venirs of a crafed variety.Relatonal: 6There is no bold statement of place in this souvenir, like that of the previous one, but it does carry a tag and if we take into account stylisaton that follows the Khmer museum artfacts and the fact that it operates as souvenir of an artsanal workshop it speak quite loudly as a marker of people and place and should be accorded a ratng of (6).Invitatonal: 6The invitatonal quality of this souvenir is similarly audible, in that it retains a utlitarian as-pect, much in the same way as the museum artfacts assessed earlier, so records a ratng of (6).Iconofetsh: 4Being an elephant fgurines gives this souvenir a head start as a souvenir of the region. How-ever Cambodia does not present itself as a land of elephants. This occurs more from an his-torical perspectve following a visit to the Angkor site. It therefor tend to rest more toward the fetshistc atracton rather than as an icon and should be accorded a ratng of (4)

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Large Ceramic Elephant Souvenir Ocassional Table – Vietnam (Fig. 8)

This next is the largest of the arfefacts to be unearthed in this survey and such is marginal in its functon as a souvenir.However the provenance of this object shows that it and others like like it were very popular during the Vietnam Waramong american service men, in that they were cheap, large and ostentatous. Furthermore the trafc of material culture during that period was supported by military trans-port routes.

Media: (3)As we have discovered slipcast ceramic work is a traditon in Vietnam and we can see in the earlier museum artfacts that colourful glaze work, in the traditon of a Chinese infuence is prevalent. However it is likely that the media is a generic clay, which would reduce the im-portance of the media, but we must not discount the decals and glaze as part of the media, which should lif the ratng here to around 3.Maker’s mark: 6Here we have the all important chop or stamp to locate the point of producton, as well as a specifc decal design that diferentates it from souvenirs from further west, leading to a rat-ing of (6)Relatonal: 4At this point my assessment becomes a litle sketchy with regard to its use among the peo-ple of the visited site. However, as noted just now it has enough in its decoraton to set it apart from other souvenirs in this survey, so for the tme being I will accord it a ratng of (4) untl I witness its everyday use among the culture of producton.Invitatonal: 7As an occasional table it invites engagement, so records a strong ratng of (7)Iconofetsh: 4

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Chart 8: Graphic Summary - Elephant Souvenir – Ceramic Incense Burner - Cambodia (Fig. 7)

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Like Cambodia, Vietnam does not claim to be a land of elephants, therefore the ratng here should be similar (4)

CONTEMPORAY ELEPHANT SOUVENIR PRODUCTION IN CHIANG MAIIn the fnal secton of this paper, I will examine some contemporary ceramic elephant fg-urines, being produced in Chiang Mai and try to discover how the cultural resonances of de-sign, seen in the museum artfacts and souvenirs examined above, have spread through the region.

Along the way I will foreshadow the subsequent phase of this project and draw atenton to the emotonal expression contained in of each fgurine, that is the anthropomorphic expres-sion given to the animal such as: playful, sad, happy, smart, aggressive and dumb(o). In the sphere of animal fgurines produced for the souvenir trade and, or, indeed decoraton, the mood generated by the work is important in its appeal. Popular culture has the elephant en-dowed with various personality traits, but that is paper in waitng.

The inital port of call was at Siam Celadon, on Chiang Mai's arts and crafs strip. Despite trading on the Celadon style of work (See Shaw 2012 for a discussion on the history of Celadon in Northern Thailand), there is much more than the famous green-blue crackle glazed ceramic at this busy factory and a vast range of elephant confguratons. Figurines in the showroom are cast in a range of actvites: labouring (Fig. 9), bearers of light (Figs 10 & 11) , vases (Fig. 12), crouching and standing teapots (Figs 13 & 14) and money-boxes (Fig. 15), occasional tables (Fig. 16), condiment sets (Fig. 17), and table top ornaments (Fig. 18, 19 & 20). They are cast as playful children, scented oil burners, foot stalls or occa-sional tables, as simple cartoonesque models, reduced to head and truck they provide the handle to mugs, some are adorned with decalled howdahs, some with incised detail, other simplifed for the ease of castng to body, head and trunk, their ears and legs barely dis-cernible. Trunks are set to the lef, the right, hanging loose, foreshortened, erect and in fan-fare.

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Chart 9: Graphic Summary - Large Ceramic Elephant Souvenir Ocassional Table – Vietnam (Fig. 8)

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In this range of commercially oriented ceramics, it is possible to detect the a clear exaggera-ton and reducton of certain features according to scale and use (See Stewart 1984 and Lit-tlefeld Kasfr, S. 1999, for commentary on miniaturisaton). As they get smaller detail is re-duced, notably in fgure 20 the trunk gives way to the enhancement of the ears. Whilst in fg-ure 21 the creature is cast as a giggling child largely undiferentated, the trunk cast close to the torso for ease of producton. Figure 19 is perhaps the most kitsch of the range. The de-caled decoraton, while atemptng to suggest a ceremonial role is simply to small to carry much detail and the features are again cast in a way to ease the producton process.

Wholesale to smaller retail outlets doted around the region appears to be the main market, while judging by some of the packaging undertaken during my visit destnatons more distantseem likely. Based on the fgurines on ofer it is reasonable to suggest that sales is the prior-ity for this establishment, rather than artstc expression, or as Graburn (1976) has classifed such works, they are “commercial fne art”.

A second survey took in Prempracha's Collecton, a similarly large scale concern in the same area. This enterprise trades on the founder's name rather than the style of work and in the style of work this collecton shows a greater variety in artstc expression, as well as style andpalete. In that expanded expression are to be found more imaginatve renditons of ele-phants, from family groupings outlined on large vases (Fig. 22) and jugs, some of leggy realis-tc renditons (Fig. 23). Sculptures are mostly of tabletop scale, one singular ofering seems formed of balloon shaped limbs (Fig. 24), others of realistc form (Fig. 25) and yet others ab-stracted to head and torso and the all important trunk, with legs, ears and tusks completely diminished (Fig. 26).

The glazes featured in this collecton are also much more imaginary and contemporary rang-ing from grey through to green, electric blue and red. There are also celadon glazes used here, mostly on more traditonal souvenir objects like those viewed at Siam Celadon, such asthe range of lazing celadon elephants (Fig. 25). What is immediately apparent upon viewing the elephants in this collecton is that in the contemporary renditons the trunk is raised like a sharp peak. In those of a more traditonal style it is curved and it is perhaps this feature that serves well as a startng point to explore any relatonship these works have with the sculptural traditons of the past.

It can be seen from the images gleaned from the survey above that the ceramic representa-ton of elephants is infuenced by the traditons of the three natons explored at the onset of this project: Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

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The utlitarian feature of the Vietnamese ewer or teapot (Fig. 3), with its foreshortened erecttrunk as spout, is clearly visible in the tea service (Fig. 13). What it lacks is the glazed detail, which may also be said of the elephant occasional table and money box (Figs 15 & 16). The Khmer style is perhaps most abundant in the Siam Celadon collecton, its obese form with short legs and confated detail, being ideal as sturdy table lamp bases, vases, scented oil burners and large teapots (Figs 10, 11, 12 & 14).

What is absent from this collecton is a strong Sukhothai infuence, at least in sculptural form, there is one isolated instance of the elephant as labourer (Fig. 9), but no sign of the ceremonial models atended by guards (Fig. 2). The closest one can fnd here seems to exist in the decalled howdah detail (Fig. 19). Other fgurines from the Siam Celadon collecton are more playful and seem to conform with the representaton of elephants in popular culture.

In the fgurines surveyed at Prempracha's Collecton increased abstracton and contempo-rary style is dominant, in which the weight and gravity of the elephant form, which it may beargued is a result of the Khmer infuence, contrasts with the pinnacle like trunk, providing aninterestng noton of tension (Fig. 26). On some models it also appears that the surface of the beast is used as a blank canvass to explore diferent glaze paterns, rather like the early Vietnamese ewer, but the paterning here is much more contemporary and freeform (Figs 24& 26). The physical details of beasts have, like those of the early Khmer models most ofen been muted, even those described on vases are simple, if realistc in scale, outlines or silhou-etes.

What is most interestng in this collecton are the lager vases and jugs and the combinaton of style, fnish and motf selecton. In fgure 22 we can see a simple pedastall gray glazed pot.Its clean line and surface suggest a modernist styling as too does the rudimentary outline of what is probably the representaton of a mother and child elephant.

In a jug of similar scale (Fig. 23), the surface is rough and textured. The glaze is brown at the top, moving through grey to white. The course surface suggests a more handmade or village feel, what might have once been described as “primitve” (Torgovnick, 1990) but is beter considered as niaive, which has been augmented with similarly stylised elephant motfs in silhouete, such a might be discovered on cave walls.

In a further example, from this collecton, one fnds cartoonesque renditons of elephants, upon a pot that seems to struggle between the modernist infuence of fgure 22 and the na-iave infuence of fgure 23.

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CONCLUSIONFrom the above survey and analysis it is possible to detect a number of convergences, con-sistencies, contemporary developments and absences. For example ceramic elephant fguresand vessels from Vietnam, are noted for their colourful decals. The sculptural design style has been adopted into the Siam Celadon range, but fnished with a monochrome celadon glaze. In this we can see perhaps the most obvious convergence of a glaze technology, prob-ably imported from China and made equally famous through it's development during the Sukhothai period, with the sculptural form of Vietnamese design. The fact that Siam Celadonclearly recognises the Celadon glaze as a primary marketng tool in the representaton of Northern Thai culture would explain this move.

Also contained within the same factory are a substantal number of obese Khmer style ele-phant fgurines, with their reduced legs and trunks and swollen torsos, adapted for contem-porary purposes, like electric lamps. It is however the capacity of this style to contain that sees them modeled as vessels and in turn that maintains their popularity.

The elephant as beast of burden appears to be marginal in it's appeal, with only one in-stance cited to date, while the Sukhothai style combat or ceremonial style appear less signif-icant than the obese Khmer infuenced elephant vessels.

Scale would also seem to be a signifcant factor in design. As the models get smaller and more portable so does the detail. There is one instance, again from Siam Celadon, that is decorated with a rather simple, what appears to be Sukhothai style howdah. However, for the most part, as scale is reduced so too are any distnguishing traces of cultural style. In-stead such fgurines tend toward a cartoonesque representatons, their physiology adapted to utlitarian design requirements, such as condiment sets.

As souvenirs of the Chiang Mai region these small and quite portable fgurines functon well to record the tourist's engagement with the region and the famous wildlife icon of the re-gion. Furthermore, being fnished in a celadon glaze they also carry a marker of a specifc ce-ramic fnish that the region is famous for.

In answer to the questons posed at the beginning of this secton it may be argued that the Sukhothai sculptural representaton of the elephant is discounted in favour of the celadon glaze, that the Khmer sculptural form is the most infuental and that the convergence of these two styles may be seen as the development of a contemporary regional style.

This claim is also supported in a casual survey of elephant sculptures from a number of art schools in Thailand, in which both Sukhothai and Khmer styles are taught to undergraduates in ceramics, one to develop hand modeling skills and the other to give practce for the con-

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structon of wheel thrown vessels. It is I believe in the very nature of the vessel that the Khmer style elephant fgurine has succeeded and displaced the pomp and combat of ele-phant fgurines of the Sukhothai culture, while the later's presence is maintained in the celadon glaze. As with the dominance of the Khmer infuenced fgures at Siam Celadon, there was a similar prominence in student work selected for display at art schools visited.

Together with the utlitarian advantage of the Khmer style vessels the emotonal message expressed in these souvenirs is vital in it's accord with the sentments of tourism, being pas-sive and fun. This passive nature is in direct contrast to the aggressive pose of Sukhothai models, while the sense of fun carried in the bloated Khmer style fgures lends itself to a car-toonesque sense of fun described in many popular culture elephant images (Cellania, Un-dated) which can also be detected in the decoratve motfs on pots from Prempraba's Collec-ton, that if not cartoon in style depict happy family groups, thereby promotng a message ofharmony. There is in many ways much more play in a humorous depicton that invites a friendly personifcaton to be invested in the model, more invitng that a roar.

This leads us to a consideraton of inclusion and dislocaton contained in the animal's repre-sentaton (Richards 2013). That is what can be seen or experienced of what is represented inthe visited culture. On this level the convergence of Khmer fgures and Sukhothai celadon glaze is the most suitable form, suggestng fun and harmony, in line with the prevailing worldview of Thailand.

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