knowledge

How to make the Benjarong

We produce fine quality Benjarong using traditional techniques of hand painting. The initial pattern drawing is crucial to how the design will look, so it is done by a master craftsman with over 10 years of experience.

Benjarong traditionally is painted from rim to base with five colors in symmetrical patterns. The addition of 18 Karat gold to the rim and the separation of colors are done last. Designs using gold are called Lai Nam Thong in Thai. The material is in the kiln room, ready to be fired for 10 hours at 800 C. The gold is masked with a brown medium that will burn off during firing to reveal the gold design.

  1. We produce fine quality Benjarong using traditional techniques of hand painting.We begin with drawing circular guide lines on a turning wheel.
  2. The initial pattern drawing is crucial to how the design will look, so it is done by a master craftsman with over 10 years of experience.
    Note that he keeps a matching vase in front so That he can compare as he works.
  3. Then the craftsman who has already completed several years of apprenticeship filling in colors and doing pattern drawing on small pieces.
  4. Process to paint Thai Traditional Figure, this is a free-hand style, so the artisan has to put his hand on a ruler and slowly move it to the way he is drawing.
  5. Chinese porcelain dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1227), but Bone China was Developed much later in 18th Century England. The England added 40-50 percent animal bone ash to the clay to get superior strength, thinness, and whiteness.
  6. Benjarong traditionally is painted from rim to base with five colors in symmetrical patterns.The word “Benjarong” is translated as “five colors”Coming from the original Chinese five colors Porcelain ware.
  7. Mineral colors are crushed and mixed in water. In the firing process this glaze becomes an enamel  glass matrix that is resistant to scratching, fading or staining.
  8. The final stages of applying color the addition of 18 Karat gold to the rim and the separation of colors are done last. Designs using gold are called Lai Nam Thong in Thai. This style was developed under the reign of King Rama V (1809-1884)
  9. The material is in the kiln room, ready to be fired for 10 hours at 800 C. The gold is masked with a brown medium that will burn off during firing to reveal the gold design.
    Our technique of applying multiple layers of the main color may be seen in the bubbled off.