BURMESE ART

An 18th- or 19th-century bronze Karen tribal rain drum of the Shan States, the top decorated with four tree frogs, 84cm diameter.  These drums have a long tradition in Eastern Burma and Thailand where the Karen people live, and are highly prized by them.

     I bought this drum in the late 1960s, long before the advent of Google, and I found it difficult at that time to establish its origin and age. Some of the references I came across seemed to place such drums at a much earlier date than it turned out to be.  In my naivete, I thought I was on to something which could be of really substantial value, and decided to take it to London to show it to a friend in the trade, a specialist in oriental art.
     My wife and I set off in our Austin A35 van and in those pre-motorway days, took ten hours or so to get to London, having to pass through the centres of places such as Wolverhampton on the way down.  We eventually arrived in London towards evening and made our way to Park Lane, looking for Curzon Street, where my friend had his shop. Having found it, we looked for somewhere to park, and following a large illuminated 'P' sign drove several levels down into the bowels of the earth in a multi-storey car park, a new experience for me.  We eventually found a space, parked the van and entered the lift, expecting the Ground Floor level to be the street. If the event, we found ourselves in the foyer of the Park Lane Hilton, where almost everyone seemed to be a well-dressed Arab.
     It was about shop closing time, and I decided to leave the business of the drum until the next morning and we went to the desk to book in.

      I was dressed for the journey in what might be described in army terms as "scruff order", and had the distinct feeling that the receptionist was not impressed with me.  When I asked if I might book a room for the night, the reply was a somewhat frosty, "How is Sir wishing to pay?", to which I replied, with youthful bravado, and producing a wad of cash I happened to have, (an unusual situation for me), "I suppose you take English money?" 
     No further difficulties ensued and we went up to our room on the nineteenth floor, with wonderful commanding views over Hyde Park and the rest of London.  I had not come across an hotel mini-bar before and, after our long and tiring journey, was ready for a snifter. I thought, this is the life, and had visions of enjoying further such luxuries after the successful sale of my drum for untold wealth.
     The next morning we carried the drum, suspended between us on bits of washing line, round the corner to my friend's shop, where I was quickly brought down to earth as it turned out to be worth only a few hundred pounds.  We sold it, and decided to stay on at the Hilton for a further night. When we came to settle our bill, thinking it might be £100 or so, it came to just under £500, about half a year's pay for me at that time.  But it was an experience!