Shrine

Shrines like this were used to hold objects of religious reverence such as Buddha images, relics of important persons, scriptures, or other sacred objects. This shrine came to the museum empty. We have placed inside it a twentieth-century funerary urn from Thailand to give a suggestion of what it might once have contained.

The structure of the shrine is topped by several tiers of tapering roofs, a stupalike element, and a tiered honorific parasol. The shape of this shrine and its decoration indicate that it was made in the northern region of Thailand.
 
Several of the roof decorations were broken and have been replicated and replaced. Following standard museum conservation practices, all the changes are documented in detail and are made to be easily reversible.