An Ethnographic Illustration of Wa People in British Burma during the Early 20th Century: Notes on a Shan Album from the NIU Burma Collection, with Reference to Similar Illustrations from Other Sources

Introduction

This note explores a certain type of ethnographic illustration of the Wa within the context of hand-painted “albums” done on paper at the turn of 20th century. It comes from a 22-page bound volume of illustrations of multiple ethnic groups, each represented by paired male and female figures in distinctive costumes, often holding an emblematic artifact which evokes a characteristic cultural practice. Evidently, very few examples of such albums are still extant. Our preliminary focus is on the representation of the Wa from the Northern Illinois University (NIU) album, as a contribution herewith to Volume 17:1 of The Journal of Burma Studies, which is essentially dedicated to that ethnicity. But due to the lack of information regarding the NIU album, we will be comparing it to depictions of the Wa in three other albums now identifiable in American and European Collections. Although the different albums are similar but not identical, each also provides either a specific provenance, some datation, and/or the name of the artist. Through a “compare-and-contrast” analysis, it appears that this genre of artwork was likely to have been produced exclusively in the Kengtung area in the Eastern Shan States and was created by local artists either for some native notable, or for the European clientele living in British Burma at the turn of 20th century, when the Shan States came finally under the administration of the British Raj. This study shows the possible connections amongst the selected paintings, and also those connections that might be posited between albums such as these with other traditions of ethno-graphic illustrations from neighboring countries. For example, the four albums described here are—in some way—similar to the Illustrations of Tributary Peoples and to a certain extent also to the “Miao Albums” popular in Southern China in the 18th and 19th centuries. But they could have been inspired also by the “Company School Style,” which originally flourished in India during the last quarter of the 18th century until about 1930. In India, these “Company-style” watercolors were done by Indian artists, mainly for those British East India Company employees who wanted to record the exotic places and peoples they were encountering, and take them back as memorabilia. What then can we learn about these early depictions of the Wa in the context of British Burma?

Early Depictions of the Wa from Four Different Albums

Illustration 1.

Lawa, ca. 1900, watercolor on paper; “Tribes of Burma.” Northern Illinois University (photo by the author).

Although the Wa (more commonly called Lawa in ancient Burma) were mentioned frequently in the Burmese sources since the 12th century during Pagan period,¹ to my knowledge we do not have visual representations of the Wa prior to the close of the 19th century. How accurate could these illustrations have been? The initial representation, in color, of the Wa people in Burma which I had first encountered comes from an illustrated album, encompassing 22 plates of water-colors, which was acquisitioned by our Burma Collection at Northern Illinois University² under the title “Tribes of Burma.”³ On this plate, a couple represented three-quarter profile with a bare background is depicted walking barefoot and in traditional costume. The male is leading the walk holding a crossbow resting on his right shoulder. Hanging on his left side, across his torso, is a white woven shoulder bag with vertical reddish-brown stripes along the shoulder strap and the bag sides, and the former terminating with black squares on the lowermost corners. The bag appears to be swinging rearwards, suggesting (along with the woman’s elevated left foot) that the couple is moving. His upper torso is covered by a short sleeveless and baggy tunic, its basted lower edge ending just above the navel. Below that, a rectangular piece of woven fabric covers his lower body from the waistline to above both...