Suggested Topics for Other Scholars
There is currently so little study of Cambodian silk that there is plenty of room for other scholars to jump in! And most of what has been published was written decades ago. Before Sappho Marchal’s excellent book, Khmer Costumes and Ornaments of the Devatas of Angkor Wat, had become available in print again. Before I had identified which Angkorian figures were mythical, and which were mortal.* Before I had identified the many problems facing brocade weavers in my 2023 report for the government of Cambodia and the King - when looking at why production is declining, weavers taking factory jobs is just the tip of the iceberg. And the research for these older publications was done before we had the Internet! And cell phone cameras! (I could not possibly do what I do without being able to take hundreds of high-resolution color photos and study them when I get back to the United States.) The best advice I have ever received was given to me by Dr. Sachchidanand Sahai, a world-renowned Angkorian scholar. “Question everything you read about Angkor. You must question everything.” This goes for what has been published about Angkorian silk, and contemporary Cambodian silk.
Here are topics where you can really make a difference:
When did the “Chan Flower” pattern reach what is now Cambodia from India? (See the Uniquely-Cambodian Patterns tab of this website.)
The relationship between Khmer ikat and Cham ikat. (See the The Origin of Cambodian Ikat tab.)
The different types of lac insects, and the different qualities of the dyes produced from their nests. (See the Networking Cambodian and Thai Weavers tab.)
But doing research in Cambodia is rough - and it isn’t getting any easier. Be sure to read the For Scholars tab, and the introduction to What the Queens Wore - the Silk of Angkor.
* Some of what we see worn by mythical figures at Angkor is mythical clothing, which has been mistaken for real clothing. This is like looking at the Statue of Liberty and coming to the conclusion that fashionable women in late 19th-century Manhattan wore togas. Paresh Patel of Royal Brocades in Ahmedabad came up with a good “test” - if we don’t see kings and queens wearing an item of clothing we see on a mythical figure, it was not real clothing.