lower left | lower right | upper right | upper left

Nineteenth-Century Manuscript Cabinet from Wat Rakhang Khosittaram, Thonburi
Tu Phra Traipidok
Gift of State, 1966
Bicentennial of the Birth of James Smithson,
Founder of the Smithsonian Institution
Department of Anthropology,
cat. # E404341
Wood and gold wash
169.5 cm height x 97 cm width x 676.5 cm depth

The composition on the doors proceeds counter-clockwise from lower to upper left. These depictions place two worldly events of the life of Siddhartha Gautama in the lower register, while two scenes depicting his adoption of the life of an ascetic and initiating the search for Enlightenment are above.

Gallery 1

1a. Robert's Treaty, 1833

1b. Harris Treaty, 1856

1c. Status & Rank of the Presidents

Gallery 2

2a. H.M. King Chulongkorn's Gifts

2b. Centennial Exposition, 1876

2c. 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Gallery 3

3a. Institutional Gifts

3b. Recent Gifts to the US

3c. Thai Royal Gifts in Perspective

Copyright 2000 Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.