The Social Sciences

Year: 2016
Volume: 11
Issue: 23
Page No. 5710 - 5718

Styles and Patterns of Silver Works of Ywahtaung Village in Sagaing Division, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Authors : Sopa Nudang, Niyom Wongphongkham and Sastra Laoakka

Abstract: The study of styles and patterns of silver works aims to examine the history and background and the styles and patterns of silver working in Ywa Htaung Village in Sagaing Division, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. This study is a qualitative research by mainly gathering data from documents and fields studies. The data collection emphasizes on observations and in-depth interviews from two main target groups. The first group is the key informants consisted of academics, senior silversmiths and silver shop entrepreneurs. The other group is the casual informants including the silversmiths. The study results reveal that Ywa Htaung Village is known for its traditional silver making inherited from their ancestors who migrated to live in the area since the period of Pukam Kingdom. Later on, the war prisoners from various ethnicities were forces to live here. The prisoners were from Ayuddhaya in Siam, Vientiane in Laos and Chiang Mai. These newcomers had lived and integrated into the culture of Burmese since then until now. The silver works produced today can be analyzed into 3 styles including the traditional style, the colonial style and the modern style. Each style of silver work differs from one another. The traditional style is duplicated from the silver wares used by the kings in the past while the colonial style is influenced by the western culture and the traditional style. Thus, the colonial style is considered the most developed style in terms of aesthetics and techniques of making. In addition, this style is the most popular style among the consumers. The third one is the modern style. This style is a universal style and influenced by the diffusion of international cultures that flooded into Burma after opening the country. The patterns of the silver works in Ywa Htaung Village can be analyzed into 2 groups including the repeat patterns and the storytelling patterns. The repeat patterns are classified into 4 types including the floras, the swords, the human forms, the create forms and the location and objects. Another group is the storytelling patterns which are the scenes based from stories. The stories commonly used are classified into 3 types including the stories related to the belief in Buddhism, the stories related to the classic literatures and the stories related to the social way of life and culture.

How to cite this article:

Sopa Nudang, Niyom Wongphongkham and Sastra Laoakka, 2016. Styles and Patterns of Silver Works of Ywahtaung Village in Sagaing Division, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The Social Sciences, 11: 5710-5718.

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