Angela Elliott, Greg Bailey, Stephanie Hulman, Jen Mikes, and Katherine Shulman
Abstract
As part of a 2002 gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Walters Art Museum acquired a large architectural Thai Buddhist pulpit or thammat. A thammat is a raised platform used in temple complexes by Buddhist monks for teaching and recitations. Historical examples of thammats in Thailand range from small thrones to elaborate pavilions. The Walters’ thammat is an elaborate example outside of Thailand and, at fourteen feet tall, an unusually large object in the museum’s collection. The raised wood platform, accessed by ladder, is topped with six columns that support a double-eaved roof with heavily ornamented gables, cornices, and brackets. The entire wood structure was originally assembled using pressure-fit wood joinery with a limited number of forged nails. Much of the exterior surface is decorated with an elaborate scheme of carvings, lacquer, and spectacular mirrored glass mosaics.
The Walters’ thammat is a rare example of this type of architecture in a museum collection. When acquired, it was disassembled into over 100 pieces and placed in storage. Almost two decades had passed when the curatorial team decided to include it in a new permanent installation of Asian and Islamic art. Objects conservators coordinated the project to assess, document, treat, and assemble this object for the first time at the museum. As much architecture as object, the thammat posed many challenges, including minimal prior documentation of the construction, limited onsite working and storage spaces, challenges in moving large sections, deterioration of original components, a non-original coating, work in public spaces during COVID restrictions, and the coordination of a large team of staff and outside contractors to accomplish the work.
Examination, historical research, and materials analysis yielded new insights into the original manufacture, history, and condition of the thammat. Among the greatest surprises and challenges was the degree to which the structural integrity of the thammat had been compromised by previous interventions. While treatment of decorative surfaces was difficult and time-consuming, significantly more effort than originally anticipated was needed to reestablish structural integrity for safe installation- and eventually, deinstallation. The intricacies of this puzzle and the large size of the thammat necessitated creative problem solving to test fit sections numerous times and carefully label and document each part.
This work culminated in two days during which custom scaffolding was built and conservators collaborated with specialized contract art handlers to finalize the assembly. The thammat has anchored the new Southeast Asian galleries at the Walters since 2023, where it continues to engage visitors with its scale, placement, and glittering decoration. Throughout the project, cross departmental museum staff worked together to share discoveries and develop more interactive and inclusive ways of sharing findings in the galleries.