Funeral Pile of a Talapoin, Buddhist Cremation, Antique Engraving, circa 1820

About this sheet

This antique engraving titled "The funeral pile of a Talapoin" depicts the cremation of a Buddhist monk in Southeast Asia, an early nineteenth century London line engraving of a Buddhist funeral ceremony. The word talapoin was the term used by European writers of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries for the Buddhist monks of Siam and Burma, and the plate shows the elaborate pyre prepared for such a figure.

At the centre stands a tall, tiered structure of straw or light timber beneath a decorative canopy, the funeral pile itself. Around it gather crowds of figures, several of whom carry long poles tipped with flame, ready to set the pyre alight. Accounts by missionaries and travellers described the cremation of senior monks in Burma and Siam as great public festivals, sometimes with fireworks and rockets used to ignite the pyre, and this plate reflects that European fascination with the spectacle.

The plate bears no publisher's imprint or date. It is an early nineteenth century London engraving, circa 1815 to 1830, in the style of the Kelly plates in this group, and is probably from a popular illustrated geography or account of the customs of Asia issued in parts. Because no imprint survives, no specific book or publisher is claimed. The print is uncoloured and engraved in line, with careful hatching in the canopy and the crowd.

As a record of how Buddhist funeral customs were presented to British readers in the Regency period, this talapoin engraving is of interest to collectors of Southeast Asian subjects, the history of religions and ethnographic prints. It would display well in a warm wood frame with an off white mount, perhaps alongside other Asian views from the same folio.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few foxing spots in the left margin and a small nick at the right edge; the image itself is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.