Chang and Eng Bunker, The Original Siamese Twins
Portrait of the twins with nine vignettes along the border depicting them in such activities as hunting, boating, plowing, and with their respective families. Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874) were the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term Siamese twins'. The Bunker brothers were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam (Thailand) Because of their Chinese heritage (Thai Chinese father and Chinese-Malay mother), they were known as the Chinese Twins'. They were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage. Their livers were fused but independently complete. In 1829, they were discovered in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. Upon termination of their contract they were determined to start living a normal life as much as possible They became naturalized United States citizens, settled on a plantation, in North Carolina, bought slaves and adopted the name Bunker'. The twins died on the same day in January 1874. Chang, who had contracted pneumonia, died rather suddenly in his sleep. Eng awoke to find his brother dead, and called for his wife and children to attend to him. A doctor was summoned to perform an emergency separation, but Eng refused to be separated from his dead brother. He died three hours later
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