The Karen Bronze Drums of Burma: Types, Iconography, Manufacture and Use

Cooler, R.M.;Cooler, Richard M.

ISBN 10: 9004099336 / ISBN 13: 9789004099333

Published by Dulles, Virginia, U.S.A.: Brill Academic Pub, 1997

About this Item

235 pp. + 39 plates, illustrations, bibliography, index. This book defines the development of the Karen Bronze Drums (Heger Type III) during the past 800 years, as the continuation, by a hill-tribe group, of the earlier "Dong Son" tradition. Its chronological development is traced through seven stages by applying a method of intensive motivic analysis to data collected from 370 drums. Four new subtypes are defined and their interrelationships are demonstrated by use of tables, figures and plates. The meaning of these motivic changes, together with early accounts of Karen culture, are used to establish that the drums were symbolically a "magic pond" that the Karen ritually manipulated to assure prosperity. 0.0. Seller Inventory # 9004099336UCB14X092712

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Karen Bronze Drums of Burma: Types, ...

Publisher: Dulles, Virginia, U.S.A.: Brill Academic Pub

Publication Date: 1997

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis:

The Karen Bronze Drums of Burma defines the development of the Karen Bronze Drums (Heger Type III) during the past eight hundred years, as the continuation by a hill tribe group, of the earlier "Dong Son" tradition. Its chronological development is traced through seven stages by applying a method of intensive motivic analysis to data collected from 370 drums. Four new subtypes are defined and their interrelationships are demonstrated by use of tables, figures, and plates. The meaning of these motivic changes together with early accounts of Karen culture are used to establish that the drums were symbolically a magic pond that the Karen ritually manipulated to assure prosperity.

About the Author:

Richard M. Cooler, Ph.D. (1979) on Asian Art History, Cornell University, is Director of the Center for Burma studies, and Professor of Art History at Northern Illinois University. His interests focus on the interrelationship of art and culture in Southeast Asia.