Day at the museum

Bangkokians who love the finer things in life will already of the exceptional gifts that can been found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store (MMA). 

The store’s two branches, at Wireless Road and Peninsula Plaza, are managed by businesswoman and art collector Nunthinee Tanner. The managing director of LBG, the lifestyle arm of the B Grimm Group, Nunthinee says the Met Store satisfied the company’s core values of promoting culture. 

“I have always been really impressed at how the museum was established and managed through donations. Giving back to society is a necessary mission in any civilised country. After all, the museum is a place of learning for every generation. The MMA is one of the finest art museums in the world and houses a collection of more than two million objects,” she says. 

“I’ve been collecting artworks since the age of 20,” she continues. “I used to go with my mother to Sanam Luang and started by collecting blue-and-white teapots. When I married and had my own house to decorate, I continued shopping for art works and used to get quite upset when the items I coveted were simply not for sale, at least not at a price I could ever afford!”

Nunthinee  is particularly fond of modern art and cites Yves Kline and Giorgio Morandi as among her favourite artists. 

She has no interest in opening a gallery though. “I only plan to support student artists from, for example, Silpakorn University by displaying their artworks in my store so that they can be discovered. It’s important for them to have a venue to show off their artistic talents,” she says.

Shopping at The Met Store is like coming to a mini-museum. The store creates a connection with the museum and with the world of art and visits to the store are enjoyable, educational, and inspirational. The majority of Metropolitan Museum products are developed internally and are based on objects in the Museum’s vast collection or those of collaborative sister institutions.

Every product created by the museum is the result of careful research and expert execution by the Metropolitan’s staff of art historians, designers, and master craftspeople, which ensure that each reproduction bears the closest possible fidelity to the original. Proceeds from the sale of all products in the Met Store directly benefit the museum’s collection and programmes. 

Merchandising staff include specialists in jewellery, home decor, (sculpture, porcelain, ceramic, glass, and metal), textiles (scarves, ties, accessories), stationery and printed reproductions (prints, posters, cards), and speciality publications (calendars, craft kits, books, and CDs). 

The Kian Gwan building branch offers a comprehensive selection of art books as well as a reading corner where you can take time browse through beautiful pages. The Met’s Kids section ensures the youngsters don’t get bored by providing them with books, toys and art equipment.  

Auguste Rodin’s the Thinker sculpture is available as a scaled reproduction in bonded bronze while Edgar Degas’ Spanish Dancer sculpture has been cast from a model of the mould used by the artist himself. And the Small Egyptian Cat sculpture is based on an original Egyptian sculpture from the Late Dynastic period. 

Wall art, postcards, posters, vases, coffee mugs, bags, umbrellas, note cubes, scarves and T-shirts features well-known paintings Van Gogh, Monet and William Morris are, along with Russian Imperial jewelled miniature frames, make ideal gifts for the New Year.