The earliest Benjarong porcelain was not used 5 colors.

Bencharong or the five-coloured ceramics might be mistaken as Thai traditional ceramics. There’s nothing wrong with this. However, the design is not limited to five colors. So…what is it actually??

There are only three colors used in the traditional design. During Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin periods, 18th -19th century, The traditional five-coloured ceramics were not originally produced in Thailand. The porcelains were exported to China. They were painted by the Chinese artists using the Thai patterns and designs. The process was monitored by Thai artists who travelled to China.

As previously mentioned, originally, there were only three colors. Two colors were added to the patterns including white, yellow, black, red and green (indigo). Therefore, “Bencharong” denotes five colors painted on the ceramics
Despite the fact that more than 30 colors are applied to the ceramics nowadays, it is still called Bencharong. The most popular motif patterns are Kanok (patterns of line), forms and portraits of human and non-human begins and paintings and forms of mythical animals from Thai literature Ramakien.

In addition to Bencharong, there is a pottery painted with the similar patterns. Actually Krueng Tuay Lai Nam Thong is a pottery painted with gold lines. It was originally developed during the reign of King Rama I. It took some times to become very popular in the reign of King Rama II.