Thai Thammat
Accession #: 63.4
Artist/Maker: Thai
Object Date: 19th century
Materials: Wood, glass inlay, lacquer, gilding
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Project Background:
This thammat was donated to the Walters by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation which obtained it for installation at Shangri-La, though it was never installed there. The object was eventually shipped to Duke Farms (New Jersey) where it was installed and remained until being acquired by the Walters in the early 2000s. The reinstallation of part of the Asian and Islamic collections on the 4th floor of the Centre street building raised the question of if it was possible to include the thammat for exhibition. Documentation from the 2002-03 examination and disassembly and a 2013 condition survey indicated that it needed structural work and cleaning and stabilization of the decorative surfaces in order to be exhibitable. The treatment of the Thammat was a long-term project that began in 2020 and had to be completed and reinstalled in its new gallery location by January 2023. This is the first time the object has been fully assembled and displayed in 20 years!
Surface Treatment:
The project began in 2020 with an assessment of all the pieces (110 total) and cleaning of the glass inlay elements which were coated with a yellow resinous material. Many conservators were involved in this phase of the project including: Angie Elliott, Greg Bailey, Stephanie Hulman and Jennifer Mikes. I joined the project at the beginning of my third year when there was still some surface cleaning and stabilization of glass pieces that need to be completed, so I jumped right into that which gave me some time to familiarize myself with the context, materials and general scope of the project. All surfaces of the thammat were cleaned with cosmetic sponges and soft bristle brushes, and vacuumed as needed. Glass pieces were then further cleaned by swabbing with a citrate solution. Loose or detached glass pieces were stabilized with B-72 retouching gels (Hard Fast -25 Si) tinted with lamp black pigment. The retouching gel was applied with a spatula and flat edged wood tool to the spaces between the glass. The retouching gels were perfect for adhering the fragments onto the thammat because we could apply them almost like a grout along the edges and still know we were getting good adhesion.
Image: Angie Elliott
Mounting:
The Thammat has six columns which would have originally extended from the base up through the ceiling frame/bottom of the roof; however, the columns were cut where they meet the top flat surface of the base and now exist independently of that structure. In order to assemble the Thammat, it was necessary to mount the columns to the base. Two aluminum mounts to hold the columns atop the base were created by Paul Daniel. Each mount is L-shaped and sits along the interior perimeter of the top surface of the base. At three points on the mount (each end and at the center of the L) is a square section into which the base of the column fits. The underside of the mount in these locations registers with the holes where the columns would have come up through the base. The columns at the corners are supported on two sides with vertical aluminum bars that slot into the mount. The columns at the center are supported on the back side with a single aluminum bar that has short arms at the top that hug the column, and is further secured into the mount with custom aluminum shims. Getting this mount just right so that everything felt secure but not stuck took time and many adjustments but we are very happy with how it turned out.
Image: Angie Elliott
Image: Angie Elliott
Structural Treatment:
The next phase of the project focused on the structural aspects of the treatment ranging from rebuilding and stabilizing joins to complete reassembly. When the object was assembled at Duke Farms many pieces were cut in half, joining elements destroyed and nails used to tack pieces together. Nails would not have been used in the original construction, so we are aiming to remove any of these nails and rely on mounts and mechanical joins. I began by testing four different epoxies (Apoxie Sculpt, WoodEpox SculpWood Putty and SculpWood Paste) for effectiveness as a butt join adhesive, a gap filler, to build out over a broken wood element and to build out over
a screw. We decided to move forward using SculpWood Putty and Paste for filling areas of insect damage or areas
that require epoxy that is more viscous, and Apoxie Sculpt for building out joins as it was the best for sculpting.
Image: Angie Elliott
Documentation and Labeling:
With 110 individual pieces that need to be accounted for and connect in specific ways, the Thammat required some sort of labeling so that should it ever be disassembled or potentially reassembled it is easy to identify the pieces. I printed labels bearing the appropriate accession numbers on a photocopier which uses powder toner that would not be solubilized by adhesive. I then tested five adhesives (two concentrations of Paraloid B-72, Jade 403, methylcellulose and wheat starch paste). I decided to use methylcellulose as it was easy to use/apply, compatible with the organic substrate and would not solubilize the various paints across the Thammat should labels need to be applied in painted areas.
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Trial Assembly:
We spent a lot of time test fitting the 108 pieces, making sure the mechanical joins functioned as intended and that everything could come together correctly and safely. While we were hoping to only use existing joinery (often partially rebuilt with epoxy) to bring all the pieces together, it became clear that this would not be sufficient and in some instances used adittional wood shims and dowels, as well as hanging wire and monofilament to secure elements in place.
Image: Angie Elliott
Image: Angie Elliott
Final Assembly/Installation:
After much hard work and planning installation day arrived! The installation took 1.5 days with a team of four art handlers from Bonsai, as well as myself, Angie and Greg. On day 1, Bonsai staff built the scaffolding around the installed Thammat base with columns, and then we assembled the roof frame and panels. This was the part we were most nervous about as we had never been able to test fit the ceiling frame onto the columns and knew this could be an obstacle. Thankfully this went well and we all breathed a sigh of relief as we were able to move forward. As an intern I was not allowed on the scaffolding initially and thus was responsible for coordinating the movement and installation of pieces from the ground. On day 2, we added the major decorative elements to the roof and the cornices, and then took the scaffolding down. The final step was to attach the brackets to the columns and cornice. We tried to use existing nails where they were present, in addition to monofilament tied at the top and mid section to secure the bracket to the Thammat. This method feels very secure and is nearly invisible to viewers.
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Image: Elena Damon
Image: Elena Damon
Image: Elena Damon
Image: Angie Elliott
And with that the installation was complete! We spent the ensuing few days finalizing all of our documentation and creating a detailed step by step instruction guide for assembly. We hope all this information can serve as a comprehensive guide for the next group responsible for disassembly/assembly of the Thammat. This was such a great project to kick off my 3rd year. I’d never worked on something of this scale that required so much coordination and teamwork and enjoyed the challenge.
Image: Julie Lauffenburger
Image: Hae Min Park
Treatment Photography
Before Treatment
Image: The Walters
After Treatment
