TheSiamese embassy to France in 1686 was the second such mission from theKingdom of Siam. The embassy was sent by KingNarai and led by ambassadorKosa Pan. This embassy was preceded by the First Siamese Embassy to France, composed of two Siamese ambassadors and FatherBénigne Vachet [Wikidata], who had left Siam for France on January 5, 1684.[1]
The embassy set out for France in 1686, accompanying the return of the 1685 French embassy to Siam ofChevalier de Chaumont andFrançois-Timoléon de Choisy on two French ships.[2] The embassy was bringing a proposal for an eternal alliance between France and Siam. It remained in France from June 1686 to March 1687. Kosa Pan was accompanied by two other Siamese ambassadors, Ok-luang Kanlaya Ratchamaitri and Ok-khun Si Wisan Wacha,[3] and by theJesuit FatherGuy Tachard.
Kosa Pan's embassy was met with a rapturous reception and caused a sensation in the courts and society of Europe. The mission landed atBrest, France before continuing its journey toVersailles, constantly surrounded by crowds of curious onlookers.
The "exotic" clothes as well as manners of the envoys (including theirkowtowing toLouis XIV during their palace visit on September 1, 1686), together with a special "machine" that was used to carry King Narai's missive to the French monarch caused much comment in French high society. The machine is calledbutsabok in Thai. Kosa Pan's great interest in French maps and images was noted in a contemporary issue of theMercure Galant.[4]
The embassy brought many gifts to present to Louis XIV, including gold, tortoise shells, fabrics, carpets, more than 1,500 pieces ofporcelain, and lacquer furniture.[5] Two silver Siamese cannons were presented to Louis XIV; they were seized by French revolutionaries in 1789 to be used in theStorming of the Bastille.[6]
The embassy ordered vast amounts of French products to be shipped to the Siamese court: 4,264 mirrors similar to those of theGalerie des Glaces were ordered to decorateNarai's palace, throughJean-Baptiste Colbert to the factory ofSaint Gobain. Among other orders were 160 French cannons, telescopes, glasses, clocks and variousvelvet pieces andcrystal decorative elements. They also ordered two geographical globes, inscribed inThai by French artisans, as well as seven carpets from theSavonnerie manufactory.[7]
TheSiamese Embassy to France in 1686 had brought to the Court samples of multicolor ThaiIkat textiles. These were enthusiastically adopted by the French nobility to becomeToiles flammées orSiamoises de Rouen often with checkered blue-and-white designs.[8] After theFrench Revolution and its repudiation of foreign luxury, the textiles were named "Toiles des Charentes" or cottons ofProvence.[9]
A fragmentary Siamese account of the mission compiled by Kosa Pan was discovered in Paris in the 1980s.[10] The embassy's encounter with Louis XIV is depicted in numerous paintings of the period.
The embassy of Kosa Pan was soon followed by another in 1688, led byOk-khun Chamnan.
