Erb Bunnag: Concubine with a Camera inside the Siamese Palace (Part 3 of 3)
Refer to Part 1 here; and Part 2 here.
From Concubines with Cameras: Royal Siamese Consorts Picturing Femininity and Ethnic Difference in Early 20th Century Siam (by Leslie Woodhouse):
In addition to outdoor activities, consorts also photographed themselves and each other in a variety of domestic pursuits. Second-youngest Bunnag sister Aab’s culinary talents in the kitchens at the king’s Ruen Ton residence were documented in a number of photographs. We also find images of royal consorts taken inside nearby Vimanmek Mansion, working at hand embroidery as well as at sewing machines.
Lady Aab Bunnag in the kitchen of Ruen Ton residence at Dusit. (N.d). [N.d. = No date.] Image URL here.
Lady Khanomdom Amatyakul using sewing machine at Vimanmek Mansion. Image URL here.
In addition to recording the myriad ways in which women passed their time within the palace, a number of images record the Bunnag sisters themselves engaged in visits with their high-ranking male relatives—father Tet Bunnag and later, his son and successor, their brother Tien. Images like these reflect the prominence of family and domestic activities in the daily lives of the Bunnag sisters. However, images like Erb’s also functioned to free the activities of royal women from the constraints of their walled-off quarters, rendering them newly accessible to eyes outside the palace. As such, these images begin to construct royal women anew in a ‘modern’ mode consistent with Western mores: as predominantly managers of the ‘private’ domestic domain, and engaged in leisure pursuits available—and appropriate—to the Siamese gentlewoman.
Among the Bunnag sisters who served as royal consorts to King Chulalongkorn, the best-known photographers were Erb and her sister Uen, as well as Ohn’s daughters Oraprapun Ramphai and Adisai Suriyapha. A number of their photographs of domestic palace life have become familiar to the Thai viewing public at large over the intervening decades. Probably the most famous of these images is the one taken by Erb of King Chulalongkorn cooking on the rear porch of his Ruen Ton residence at Dusit [photo just below]. In this photo, the king’s attire greatly contrasts with the uniforms typically worn in his official portraits. Here, he wears no shirt or jacket, but only a loosely wrapped lower garment called a pha khao ma—an outfit which could be worn by any Siamese commoner. His pose is casual and unguarded; the king is shown sitting on a chair as he bends intently over a wok, stirring it with his right hand while he smokes a cigar or cheroot with his left. The overall scene has a relaxed and contemplative feeling, as if one is present with the king in an intimate domestic moment. It is unsurprising that this photo is frequently seen today in restaurants throughout Thailand, in the area of the shop reserved for venerating an image of the king, past or present. The intimacy of the image affords the viewer a vicarious closeness to a much-revered monarch, while simultaneously rendering him all the more human and accessible via the quotidian quality of his dress and activity.
King Chulalongkorn cooking on the porch of the Ruen Ton residence, opposite Vimanmek Palace. (Courtesy of the Prince Damrong Library and Archive, Bangkok.).
