YAN LIPAO

An Art Treasure as Inheritance

for Future Generation

When we talk about a “Yan Lipao handbag” people always think of something old and out-dated.

As a matter of fact, it does represent an ancient heritage. It is a priceless object, the product of nature, cleverly woven by skilled craftsman, which has existed since the days of our great- grand- parents.

Nature has created a magic plant called “Yan Lipao”.

Yan Lipao is a kind of climbing plant, a fern vine that grows in black and brown colors. It is a nature’s bounty of raw material for unique basketry work. The vine grows well in deep jungle, predominantly in the southern part of Thailand. The ripe one-meter portion climbing from the root of the vine is the best material for basketry work. The vine collected from the jungle must be peeled (the outer part being stripped from the pith) and hung to dry in the shade. The dried trips are then polished and smoothed out before weaving.

Yan Lipao basketry work is an old and traditional art of Thailand. This delicate craft has been known to exist as far back as the early Ratanakosin (Bangkok) period. The province of Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand is recognized as the original place where Yan Lipao basketry was started. Traditional Yan Lipao products were tobacco boxes, trays, betel- nut boxes, tea-cosies, hand- bags.ect. The Yan Lipao basketry work requires great skill, talent and patience. Each piece of work is quite rewarding to the people who have product it. The finished product is beautiful, stylish, and highly durable. It may last as long as a hundred years. It was quire unfortunate that at the end of king Rama V’s reigns, that art of making Yan Lipao product fell into disure because older craftmen passed was inadequate training of the younger generation.