Bottle art museum in Pattaya
In the Bangkok Post I read an article about the Bottle Art Museum, here in Pattaya.
Now I knew that museum, that is, I drove past it sometimes, but never bothered to take a look inside. Even since the museum moved and is now located about a mile from my house, I hadn't visited it yet. The Travel Tip was a good reason to take a look at what this museum has to offer.
Museum
When you hear the word museum, don't immediately think of the Rijksmuseum or the Louvre, this museum is a lot more modest in size. Yet it is a unique museum, because it is the only museum in the world that specializes in art in bottles (bottle art). In three rooms you can admire hundreds of works of art, from ships, mills, houses, temples, everything ingeniously built up in a bottle. The bottle can have different shapes and it is obvious that the bottle is usually used in a lying position. Yet there are also a number of upright bottles, in which, for example, an Amsterdam canal house can be seen.
Founder
The museum was founded by a Dutch artist, Pieter Bij de Leij. Prior to my visit I tried to find out some details about this man, but to no avail. The man with the beautiful Frisian surname (Bij de Leij is common around Stiens) is an unknown greatness. I would have liked to talk about his origins, his intentions with the museum and his work, but when I asked one of the Thai ladies about him, I was told: “Him dead”. A former student of Khun Pieter, Miss Prapaisri Taipanich, indeed confirmed the death of Pieter Bij de Leij about seven years ago and said that she had continued his work.
Bottle art
Art in bottles has been around for several hundred years. You tend to think that they are always ships in bottles, made by sailors during the long journey in previous centuries. However, the origin of bottle art has never been precisely traced. The oldest known "ship in bottle" (SIB) was probably made by an Italian artist, Gioni Biondi, in 1784. It is a miniature of a Portuguese or Turkish three-master in an egg-shaped bottle, which is on display in a museum in Lübeck. The oldest SIB in the Netherlands dates from 1793, a so-called Boon ship, a one-master with side swords, which can be seen in the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam.
Other forms of bottle art
Bottle art is not limited to just ships. It is known from Germany that long before the SIBs, works of art were made from a glass ball containing a miniature of someone's favorite patron saint. This globe was hung above the soup kettle, the steam from the soup condensed on the glass and the drops that fell afterwards were considered blessings from the patron saint. Copies of this art can be admired in various folk museums in Germany. In Germany and other Eastern European countries, bottle art with scenes from underground mining can also be found.
Collection in Pattaya
In the museum in Pattaya we see quite a lot of ships in bottles, but also – as mentioned above – an Amsterdam canal house and the inevitable Dutch windmill. All made by Pieter Bij de Leij and now that he is gone, that collection will no longer be added to. Thailand has no real tradition in seafaring, so it makes sense that Thai culture has been bottled in a different way. Beautiful temples, typical Thai houses, river views and more is the work of the current artists and all in all it is a nice collection with a great diversity of art objects. The showpiece of the museum is a model of a complete Thai village, of course not processed in a bottle, but in a beautiful large glass display case.
Reception
I was nicely received in a reception, paid 200 Baht and was first presented with a nice video presentation. You get a nice impression of how a work of art is created, the work of art is first built outside the bottle without glue or other connections and then rebuilt with long tongs through the bottle neck in the bottle. From start to finish, completion can take several months. Then a tour of the museum, it is not the case that you can wander around for hours and hours or even several days, as in other large museums, but – as stated in their brochure – you have seen it in an hour.
Education
The museum is located on the grounds of the Kingston Business College and the classroom in the museum led me to believe that students at that school - and possibly other schools - are being taught how to make miniature works of art. Would certainly work well as part of manual labor and to stimulate the creativity of students. In any case, I was handed a miniscule bottle with two birds and some flowers at my farewell.
If you go
The Bottle Art Museum is located on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya on the grounds of the Kingston Business College. From the Pattaya Bangkok Hospital it is a few hundred meters towards Bangkok.
It's nice to go once, especially for people who do all kinds of manual labor themselves.
– Reposted message –
Pieter bbeij de lei actually comes from Brunssum where he learned the art from his father. The man locked himself in Pattaya for years to make some of his pieces, then he opened the museum. He died in Pattaya and was buried in Satahip.
Thank you, Gentlemen! That is at least a tip of the shutter lifted.
I couldn't find anything about Pieter on the Internet, how did you get that information?
Isn't more known about him?
There is a Hyves account of the Bij de Leij family, I could pose the question there, but I don't have a Hyves account.
All not really important, but such an “unknown” artist just intrigues me!
Bye Gringo.
I knew Pieter, he used to have a cafe in Brunssum, later when he lived in Thailand I visited him regularly. I don't understand why there is no information about him. His father still made the brunssum town hall in a bottle. Is still there now.
Hopefully I have informed you enough.
Greetings W. Heeren
Indeed, Pieter used to live in Brunssum and had a bar on the Prins Hendriklaan. Used to be there many times with friends and fooled around with him because he was so small he was indeed a Lilliputian,
I live in the isaan myself and when I am in pattaya I want to visit it. By the way, nice piece of writing gringo.
I knew Pieter bbeij de lei personally and often visited him in Pattaya together with his ex-wife from the Netherlands.
Pieter himself was a Lilly putter, so a very short man and was the father of a daughter who also lived in Pattaya for a while.
The daughter last lived in Brabant, but I have lost contact and do not know where she is now.
As for the "Bottle Muzeum" I can tell you that most of the works were made by Pieter, including those of the temples in bottles.
About 20 years ago, the museum was included with the travel organizations so that buses full of tourists came to see it.
A highlight for Pieter was a visit by members of the royal family.
Greetings Rin
Thanks Gringo for your informative posts as always. Always something for everyone. Keep posting them!
Pieter was a friend of mine, I went to the opening of the bottle museum. This man originally came from Brunssum where he had a bar, then he moved to Heerlen where he rented a room in an old (converted farmhouse). He once came to visit me in Thailand, once back he sold the room rental company and all his belongings and left for Pattaya where he opened the bottle museum. The great thing is he was married 4 times in the Netherlands and 2 times in Thailand, in the museum he had framed photos of all his wives hanging and next to it a frame without a photo, especially. He frequented the Malibu Bar on the second road, where they still know him. Unfortunately he passed away.
I went there with my wife 3 years ago.
Then there were still pictures of him. We thought it was fun and interesting to see it.
It might be a nice idea to leave some more personal information at the museum for future visitors.
He deserved that.