TRENDSETTERS’

Charnkiat Mahantakhun is “Proud to be Thai”

When he released his debut jewellery collection, Proud Line by Bee Bijoux, there were more than a few cocked eyebrows, and audible whispers wondered: how on earth was such a debonair, sans frontieres personality was going to promote anything Thai, leave alone jewellery? “My friends loved to tease me that I didn’t look like a guy who loved anything ‘Thai’,” says Charnkiat Mahantakhun, chucking the very idea with a mirthful chuckle.

To label jewellery “Thai” does not mean the work must retain every crook and cast of ancient craftwork; some adjustments are possible, even desirable, to make the piece come alive for the modern generation. To take an established idea and make it work on something else, that is creativity. In this case, Charnkiat has brought the art of niello to a new audience in way they can appreciate more closely. Historically used in decorating utensils and cutlery of the Siamese nobility, niello has now been appropriated by Charnkiat to make jewellery. And his ornaments are irresistible as a genuine novelty, because they use an ancient medium in a modern context. How modern? Try out the niello USB drive. Better still, wear niello on your ear, neck, wrist or finger. Niello noir is in, darlings, it’s the new cool! “I have two teams of artists. One team comprises experts in the ancient art of niello creation, and the other team specialises in modern application of the jewellery,” explains Charnkiat. “Nowadays Thais no longer wear ancient attire-cum-shoulder cloths. So, it would be very difficult to stay in the market if we still produced ancient jewellery and expected customers to wear them with modern clothing. As a result, we have a few guidelines on how to create a Thai-style jewellery collection that is still perfectly compatible with the modern apparel culture: we must ponder on the designs — how to make them wearable by people of today’s generation, and how to make them proud of the Thainess that we offer.” As an affirmative answer to all these considerations, the Proud Line collection was released in 2007 and the following year won the coveted DEmark Award (Design Excellence Award) from the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce. And winning the same award again in 2009 and 2011 only confirmed how aptly this collection has been named. Proud Line, indeed. “It is a matter of great pride for us that our products are appreciated by the public, especially when people actually perceive the true value of niello in our works. Over the passing years, niello works have been on the verge of vanishing from Thai society. Partly because this kind of art is very delicate and very difficult to accomplish. It requires a high level of concentration, perseverance and devotion to the art. That is why few modern artists are keen about it. Considering the amount of time required to complete a niello product, today’s craftsmen would rather make more money by churning out western-style jewellery,” the young designer reveals.

While basking in the limelight of appreciative attention, Charnkiat is quick to give credit where credit is due: he thanks the media, whose supportive exposure helped stir market interest, leading to public acceptance. As a consequence of these products having grown in popularity, artists specialising in niello are gaining more orders from niello-wearers. And art students, awake to the remunerative possibilities present in niello nostalgia, are finding it worthwhile to pursue in-depth study of this art form. Proud Line has opened two outlets in Bangkok — one at K-Village on Sukhumvit Road, and the other at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Even as the 35-year-old artist devotes his time and energy to Proud Line, he is also pursuing a doctorate in Education Technology at Chulalongkorn University, and conducting research on nielloware. He has developed a digital media format, a kind of computerised teacher’s assistant, to let apprentice artists try out, evaluate and improve their skills in a virtual environment, before attempting the real thing. This has proven very useful since the process of making nielloware is a precise and delicate one, highly prone to failure and loss of pricey materials. Let us turn back the clock to when our artist was still studying. Charnkiat Mahantakhun began university as a student of Business Administration. After a while he began to feel this wasn’t quite what he wanted to do in life; so he opted instead to study Multimedia Design at Southern Oregon University in the United States. Not once did he yet think of following in his mother’s occupational footsteps as a jewellery designer. Indeed, he had not an inkling about designing anything, let alone something “Thai”. But now he found himself on the other side of the world, where Thai culture and traditions were considered an exotic rarity. And he thought of the countless days spent in his mother’s atelier watching her make beautiful ornaments. All this inspired in him a sense of pride for his heritage and thus began the first stirrings of an artistic endeavour that shaped up to become the Proud Line. “One thing I’ve learnt — and this is an empirical truth — is that in the Western world, it is only a matter of technological advancement because in that part of the world they have better technology which can control the weight of each piece of ornament, making it smoother and lighter. While in the Eastern world where technology is not the first cup of tea of the day, we compete in skills, neatness and flexibility, all through the means of the artists’ own hands,” he explains. Charnkiat also voices the opinion that, while not excluding other types of Thai crafts, niello work is truly and completely a Thai art form, a point many still neglect to fully

appreciate. Having reflected deeply in this vein, and getting to know many foreign friends who expressed wonderment at such amazing splendour, Charnkiat began to develop a deep and abiding appreciation of the quality of Thai art. “It is who we are. It is what our forefathers, our ancestors had been doing since the beginning of time. It is something that we should be proud of that our country has a history that has outlived many other cultures in the world. As for the skills present among Thai artists, I can say that our artists are second to none,” says Charnkiat, emphasising the importance of Thai culture, in which all Thai people must take pride. “It was my mother who started to produce some niello products while teaching at the Royal Goldsmith College in a project initiated by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Upon seeing her work. I thought that niello was a great foundation from which could spring a lot of artistry.” He studied the unique characteristics of nielloware and, in his vivid imagination, he began to clearly see the application of niello in ornaments and jewellery, because niello was not only beautiful but durable too. As for the history of niello in ancient Siam, one popular belief states that niello was brought to Siam by the first Portuguese merchants who arrived in the 15th century. A more likely theory is that niello was already a flourishing craft in Nakhon Si Thammarat during the Srivijaya Empire from the 7 – 13th centuries, long before the Portuguese showed up. A few ancient artifacts serve as historical evidence confirming the existence of nielloware in southern Thailand as ceremonial ornaments. Charnkiat’s jewellery making is not very different from the procedures followed since time immemorial. He starts by heating and shaping the silver, then etches

the desired pattern by gently gouging tiny troughs in the silver with a hammer and chiselette; into these tiny trenches is then poured a quasi-liquid niello amalgam, which is a dark-coloured heated mixture of copper, silver and lead; when the niello amalgam has solidified, the excess niello that has spilled over its gouged trenches is filed away to once again expose the unetched and smooth surface of the silver. The piece is later cleaned and polished in preparation for the next, very important procedure — the application of pure molten gold to the surface under high temperature. This process is repeated as many times as necessary for the golden liquid to seep through the “skin” of the jewellery piece. Then, with hammer and chiselette, another pattern is gouged on the surface, to make sure that the gold has completely fused into the piece and not ju’st to the surface. This last procedure explained above is called “Rao Lai”, a term pronounced by speakers of the southern dialect as “Prao Lai” — and here lies the origin of the name Proud Line, which Charnkiat has given to his collection of niello jewellery. Asked whether it is more difficult to apply the traditional procedures of making nielloware in creating the modern jewellery of his collection, Charnkiat admits that artists do moan about it. “Artists complain a lot” because there is not much surface available whereby to clamp the piece in place, because jewellery pieces are quite small, unlike kitchenware or other household items. “It is definitely more difficult this way,” he agrees, though the accompanying chortle seems already to make light of this exacting exercise. He cautions, though, that once the niello has been applied onto a pattern, the piece must not be allowed to undergo very high temperatures ever again. Therefore, it is quite a hard task to assemble the pieces together without applying too much heat to the piece and this requires special technique. Besides, Charnkiat also uses pearls and diamonds, which certainly add value to his creations. “We use diamond to add some ‘perceivable value’  to the pieces because people tend to look at one aspect only — that we use so little silver and gold. Which makes them ask why the pieces are so expensive. People don’t seem to realise that it takes a lot of skill and patience to make just one piece of these ornaments. But skill and patience are not physically visible. So we need to add something of ‘perceivable value’ — in this case a diamond — to make it more precious and consistent with the set price. Another advantage is that a diamond looks good and gets along with lots of things. We don’t use that many diamonds in our works, only just enough to elicit the enchantment of the beholder. As for pearls, they make the ornament appear sweeter and softer, while the perceivable value is still there to see.” Charnkiat reveals that it takes at least 45 days to finish one tiny piece of jewellery and it costs roughly 10,000 to 20,000 baht. His very first collection was actually made entirely of pure gold — a rather prohibitive prospect today due to the very steep gold prices. So, after certain adjustments in design and processing, he began to produce silver niello. The comparatively lower price tag allows more people to buy the product. “It’s sad to see that there are many more types of Thai arts and crafts still being neglected. Ancient Thai ornamental crafts like Lanna goldsmithy, Sukhothai’s gold craftsmanship, Chiang Mai silversmithy, or even ancient Thai coloured jewellery — all these deserve to be developed and elevated in order to cater to potential customers from the younger generation,” he said. Closely inspecting the earrings, rings, pendants, bracelets and many more ornaments proudly exhibiting classical Thai patterns and images (such as mythical birds and plants), we realise that each millimetre has been magically wrought with great care and precision, thereby displaying a great deal of beauty. Which certainly makes the Thai chest expand with pride — as Thai innovation places Thai identity on a new and modern pedestal of global admiration, thanks in no small part to Proud Line and its creator, Charnkiat Mahantakhun.

Words Suwanna Premsote

Photography Varis Kusujarit

Living Thai Magazine