 | |
 | |
| Location | Pathum Wan,Bangkok,Thailand |
|---|---|
TheJim Thompson House is amuseum in centralBangkok,Thailand, housing theart collection of American businessman and architect James Harrison Wilson Thompson or simplyJim Thompson, the museum designer and former owner.[1] Built in 1959, the museum spans one rectangularrai of land (approximately half an acre or 2023.43 square meters).[2]
Following his relocation to Bangkok and the establishment of the Thai Silk Company Ltd. in 1948, Thompson also became a major collector ofSoutheast Asian art, which was not well known among Westerners at the time. Attracted by the subtlety of their craftsmanship and expression, he built a large collection of historicalBuddhist statues and traditionalThai paintings made of wood, cloth, and paper that depicted the life ofBuddha and the legend ofVessantara Jataka. He collected secular art not only from Thailand but fromBurma,Cambodia, andLaos, frequently travelling to those countries on buying trips. His collection also consisted of white and blueporcelain from China, which made its way into Thailand around the 16th and 17th centuries.[2]
In 1958, he began what was to be the pinnacle of his architectural achievement, a new home to live in and to showcase his art collection. The museum was planned to consist of a complex combination of six traditionalThai-style houses, primarily constructed of wood, and various old Thai structures that were collected from all parts ofThailand in the 1950s and 1960s.[2] His home sits on aklong (canal)Saen Saep across from Bangkrua, where his company's weavers were then located. Most of the 19th-century houses were dismantled and moved fromAyutthaya, but the largest, a weaver's house (now the living room), came from Bangkrua.[1]
After Thompson's disappearance inMalaysia in 1967, the house came under the control of The James H. W. Thompson Foundation under the royal patronage of PrincessMaha Chakri Sirindhorn. The house is at 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan, one block away fromBangkok National Stadium; guided tours are available.[2][1]
13°44′57″N100°31′42″E / 13.74917°N 100.52833°E /13.74917; 100.52833
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
 | This Thai museum-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
