Two chapei of King Sisowath Monivong

Texts, photos, videos: © Patrick Kersalé 1998-2019, except special mention.

Introduction

In 1930, during His visit to the Court of Cambodia, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) of Siam receives from the hands of King Sisowath Monivong several prestigious musical instruments, including two chapei. Preciously preserved since then, they are now displayed at the National Museum of Bangkok and are in a perfect state of conservation.

Thanks to the Thai curators for protecting this treasure!

General description

The two chapei are of different sizes, like the tro fiddle and the sralai oboe. We don't know the exact reason; maybe there is a chapei for men (the largest one) and one for women? By convention, we will name them, here and elsewhere on the site, “Large Chapei” and “Small Chapei”.

Both instruments are precious red wood without being able to define nature at the moment. All white colored elements (pegs, nut and inlays) are of ivory. The central decoration of the Large Chapei's soundboard and the nut represent the arms of the Royal Court of Cambodia. For the Small Chapei, only the nut shows the royal arms; its soundboard's central decoration is made of a complex floral decoration. All wooden parts are inlaid with floral ivory decorations. The frets are carved. Both strings are equipped with a noisemaker as the takhê zither. The Large Chapei has a horn plectrum. The silk strings are new; it is a modern technology commonly used by contemporary Thai manufacturers and musicians.

The Large Chapei

Its soundboard is lined with two rows of ivory inlay: on the outside are four-petalled chan flowers surrounded by streaks and, inside, lily flowers. Its center is embellished by the royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Cambodia made of ivory, again surrounded by chan flowers .

The royal coat of arms of Cambodia consists here of two superimposed cups. On the highest, placed horizontally, the sacred sword surmounted by the Cambodian version of the Om̐ symbol. Around the cups, two laurel's branches united by a chan flower. Behind, a royal coat. In the upper part, the royal crown of Cambodia, surmounted by a ray of light. The coat of arms is flanked by two mythical animals with a very refined shape that are normally, on the left, a gajasimha elephant horn lion and on the right, a singha lion. Here they are not differentiated. The whole is again surrounded by a double branch of laurel joined by a flower.

The red wooden tailpiece is edged and inlaid with floral ivory decor. It is screwed into the soundbox. It has a vibrator device consisting of two plates of ivory (or bone?). We don't know why there are two. Are they original? This is the oldest known testimony of this device on a chapei since instruments of the late nineteenth century, whether chapei or Thai krajappi are lacking (until proven otherwise!).