Producer unknown to us
Mortar with pestle
Asia, Siam
Prior to 1913
Brass
Karl Siegfried Döhring (engineer, art historian, archaeologist)
Purchased by the museum from Döhring in 1913
SAs 08213
On its exterior, this small mortar is decorated with a surrounding double lotus leaf motif. Its small size and elaborate decoration indicate that it was originally used to pestle spices or medicinal substances.
The collector, Karl Döhring, was a German architect who had been in the Thai (back then Siamese) government service from 1906. He was involved in modern urban planning and contributed to the construction of the Royal Residence in Phetchaburi and other palace buildings. At the same time, he was deeply interested in Thai culture, especially architecture, on which he also wrote his doctoral thesis and other publications.
During a convalescent stay in Germany in 1911, he contacted several ethnological museums. Among them was the Leipzig ethnological museum to which he eventually bequeathed extensive collections of handicrafts, as well as everyday objects.
Dietmar Grundmann