Sop-Li, a late fifteenth century bronze workshop in Lan Na

Abstract

An inscription on the base of a major Buddha image from Lamphun identifies the date of casting (equivalent to 1489 CE) and the casters as the metal workers from Sop-Li village. This important Lan Na inscription is probably the first in Thailand to pinpoint a bronze casting workshop by name, location and date. The Buddha image in question displays some distinct stylistic details particular to images from the Chiang Mai/Lamphun area in the late fifteenth century. During the “golden age” of Lan Na sculpture (the last quarter of the fifteenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth) a wealth of fine Buddha images, many with inscribed dates, was cast in the northern kingdom of Lan Na, and some exceptional examples coming from the Chiang Mai/ Lamphun area. An analysis of the stylistic aspects of the 1489 Sop-Li image and a comparison of these characteristics found on other images from the same general locality, suggests that at least two other Buddha images were cast by a Sop-Li workshop.