American couple return shadow play treasures to Thailand
Mar 27, 2012


An American couple has given dozens of centuries-old framed and delicately carved cow skins for grand shadow plays to the Thai government so the items can be returned to their origins.
PHOTO: THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

An American couple has given dozens of centuries-old framed and delicately carved cow skins for grand shadow plays to the Thai government so the items can be returned to their origins.

'They have historical value,' Culture Minister Sukumol Kunplome said on Monday.

Ms Sukomol said Dr Sarah M Bekker and her husband Konrad Bekker bought the items from a German woman who said a Thai grand shadow play performer sold them to her in 1910.

The cow skins feature the characters and scenes of Thai grand shadow plays, mostly about the Epic of Ramakien (Thai version of Ramayana). They are from the early Rattanakosin Period.

straitstimes.com