This post features a set of percussion instrument stamps from Laos made in 1970. Readers of this blog know that musical instrument stamp sets are quite popular. They have been issued by countries across the globe. For example, on this blog you can read about sets from the Côte d’Ivoire, Norway, and El Salvador, among others.
As I have said in other posts, instrument sets make sense for a country to produce. Firstly, they are usually recognizable to a significant portion of the populations. Secondly, they are often specific to the culture of a country or region, therefore useful in establishing a sense of identity and pride. Thirdly, instruments can elicit positive emotional responses to memories of musical experiences. Finally, from an aesthetic perspective, individual instruments can make a nice set that are both different and obviously related. Such a set makes sense for countries with stamps of various denominations, and are popular with collectors.
Laos has actually made several sets of instrument stamps. The earliest set of instrument stamps in my collection comes from Laos in 1957. Other sets were made in 1984, 1991, and 1998. The last set was soley for free reed stamps. This set may be the most beautiful set of stamps in my collection. It depicts three different kinds of Laotian percussion instruments.
Kong (Drum)
In Laos, kong is the name for the traditional barrel drum with animal skin heads. There are many kinds, of various sizes, utilizing all types of animal skins from snake to buffalo. The barrels can be made of wood, copper, or tin. The first stamp in the 1970 set features a very large drum of the type found in drum towers.
By Gerd Eichmann – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
Drum towers are prominent features on many Buddhist temple complexes in Laos and throughout Asia. A player beats the large drum for a variety of purposes including calling the faithful to prayers at various times each day. The drum is also used for ceremonies and special occasions.
Scott Number LA 197
The beautiful drum features a monk preparing to beat a very large kong, hanging in an ornate temple structure. The stamp is tricolor with blue, brown, and orange. All of the stamps in this set are by Ky Phung Chaleun, a Laotian artist, but the engravings took place in France. Of course, Laos was a former French colony, and the wording on the stamp is in both Lao and French. The engraver for this stamp was Jean Miermont
Mahōra Thuk (Frog drum)
Perhaps the most famous drums from Laos, and neighboring Thailand and Burma, are bronze drum that first appear in the Dongson period (700-100 B.C.). They are from the Karen people, a minority group in southeast Asia. Cast from bronze, the drums are hollow inside with a bronze tympanum (beating surface).
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The drums are highly decorative. The tympanum has decorations in concentric circles emanating from a central star. On the side of the drum are often processions of elephants marching down the drum. At four cardinal points on the tympanum are cast frogs, usually three piled up on each other’s backs. The drums are associated with rainmaking ceremonies.
Scott Number LA 198
Again, the stunning stamp is in three colors: green, black, and reddish-brown. The detail is so well done that you can make out the elephants marching down the drum and the frogs on the tympanum. The background is green vegetation, perhaps suggestion a lush jungle, from succesful rainmaking rituals. You can clearly read the designer, Ky Phung Chaleun’s name on this stamp. In addition, you can read the last name of the stamp engraver Roger Fenneteaux.
Pong (Wooden Bell)
The final stamp in the set features an unusual instrument. It is a pong or a wooden bell, of the type that are occasionally found in villages in Laos and Thailand. The bells function as a communication device for a small village, announcing events, prayers, and emergencies.
Once again, the stamp is a beautiful tricolor stamp, this time in an orange, brown, and a burnt sienna. It shows a male figure (a monk?) playing the bell with a large wooden mallet. The mallet goes inside the drum and is hit against the side wall. The decoration of the bell is intricate, while the wooden log stand is very rough. The latter is very typical of such bells. In the background is an ornate building, probably a temple. As with the entire set, the design is by Laotian Ky Phung Chaleun. The engraving is by the Frenchman Claude Jumelet.
Check out this video of a monk playing a khong drum in Laos.
