Portrait of the Third Courtier, Imperial Commissioner, Imperial of Commissioner of Water – Divine Portraits Project x Camelia Pham

The third painting by Camelia Pham for our project, Divine Portraits, portrays the Third Courtier, Imperial Commissioner of Water. The theme color is white for it is the representative color of the Water Palace [Thoải Phủ].

Since the Third Courtier attends the Third Mother Goddess in the Water Palace, the background features rising foaming waves. Water currents stream around her chair’s armrests. There are also wave patterns on the two columns behind her back.

She is pouring elixir from Her bottle made of white coral gemstone into a gem bowl raised by the waves on Her hand. It was inspired by the belief that the Courtier bestows sick people with magical medicine when they pray to Her.

Her costumes, in the Lê dynasty’s style, include three layers. The innermost and middle layers are Giao Lĩnh (crossed-collared robes). The outermost layer is Viên Lĩnh (round-collared robe). She’s wearing a pearl string bracelet and a pair of blue jadeite lotus-shaped earrings.

Our favorite detail in this painting might be the headwear, which includes a crown made of blue jadeite and red coral and a white headscarf. The headscarf is woven with wave patterns and adorned with pearls.

The style of the headscarf is inspired by an instruction video on the costumes in hầu bóng (serving-the-reflection) ceremony hosted by Diễn Đàn Hát Văn Việt Nam (Vietnam Court Hymn Performance Forum). The instructor said that, back in the days when most thanh đồng (mediums) couldn’t afford an entire wardrobe for all acts, they wore the same item in different ways when serving different deities. For the act of the Third Courtier, the head scarf’s lower corners were tied in front of the medium’s neck, covering a part of the medium’s face. We guess it is due to the belief that the Third Courtier resides in the divine realm, and rarely makes Her presence on Earth; therefore there is little to know about her. Besides, it’s heard that She is quite strict and stern.

The inspiration for the costumes is mainly from the book Weaving Realm by Vietnam Centre.

All of the patterns in the painting are from the Lê dynasty, provided by the vector collection Hoa Văn Đại Việt.