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Antique Questions Forum / Re: SE Asian Bronze Dum

« on: November 13, 2012, 07:06:40 pm »

again you mention repo..."a Repo" from where....the only people out there doing repo,s are the Chinese...but no chinaman made this....enjoy it for what it is....

I'm getting a lot of history that these were originally mainly crafted by a tribe in between Burma and Laos, but the british raised their villages and production stopped, interest in these drums waned a bit for the first half of the 20th, then picked up later when the Americans became more involved. Then in the 90s tourists flooded the area looking for artifacts and souvenirs.

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Antique Questions Forum / Re: SE Asian Bronze Dum

« on: November 12, 2012, 11:51:38 pm »

Is the little light spot that shows in the first pics where the patina has been damaged ??  Not sure but if this were spun,, that would be done on a wheel or a lathe and there would be no side seams !!  I would guess its a casting !!  From what I see it looks 20th century !!  If that yellow color is whats behind the patina its probably a patinated brass rather than a bronze !!  The color looks more like a surface application to me !!  But could just be the pics !!

I was wondering if that was the original color, but your post prompted me to take a closer look.  I chipped away at it with my finger nail, then rubbed it down with a wet rag. Here is the before:



And after:



Looks like it scaped a wall during it's years in storage. 

I guess the question that remains is if it's pre-1890s Burmese origin from the karen tribe. Which I would suffice to say it's "original". Or if it's a later replication from the colonial period. I'm pretty sure I can trace ownership back to the 1970s atleast, so I don't think it is one of the more recent 1990s or 2000s replicas that are on the market. If it's pre-1890s this is pretty good shape, most of the one's i've seen on the internet have a green patina. 

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Antique Questions Forum / Re: SE Asian Bronze Dum

« on: November 11, 2012, 10:12:01 pm »

Thanks for that. Yeah there does appear to be two seams down each side, cut in half.  Almost like a weld bead.  Perhaps an inside picture might help too.



I did find one page about them here: http://www.lasieexotique.com/mag_frogdrums/mag_frogdrums.html

I can see some similarities.





Backstory is it's my girlfriend's parents left her with this.  They brought it over in the early 70s I think they when they emigrated. Perhaps it might be a 50/60s colonial era replica.

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Antique Questions Forum / SE Asian Bronze Dum

« on: November 11, 2012, 09:01:53 pm »

I have this old bronze drum. The story was it was smuggled out of Laos after the revolution, supposedly "hundreds of years old", though that may be hyperbole. 



Does anybody have any information on these or how to vouch for it's authenticity. I can't seem to find much online, a few sites selling replicas, etc.  I found some information about Doc Song Dums (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Son_drums), I'm thinking this might be a later replica. 

Also, how would one care for an item like this? I get mixed information about polishing/waxing.  Just to want to keep it maintained. Looks like it is rusting or something. I'm thinking of putting a glass top over it and making it a table.