BUDDHA AND THE WELL OF DOOM
Thailand, Ratanakosin, 19th century. A massive gilt and lacquered bronze depicting Buddha, standing above a square well surrounded and filled with skeletons, some of them mutilated, one wearing a crown.

Provenance: From a French private collection.
Condition: Fine condition with some losses, mostly to the center of the well, old wear, traces of use. Buddha might have held something in his proper left hand.

Weight: 6.1 kilograms
Dimensions: Height 43.5 cm

While the exact iconographical interpretation of this depiction must remain ambiguous, the skeletons might be a borrowing from depictions of citipati protector deities of Vajrayana Buddhism. Overall, this statue must be regarded as extremely rare.