A THAI GILT AND LACQUERED BRONZE GONG AND A TIBETAN POLYCHROME WOOD DAMARU

A THAI GILT AND LACQUERED BRONZE GONG AND A TIBETAN POLYCHROME WOOD DAMARU

19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY

The gong decorated with a deity wearing an elaborate crown and body jewellery, he holds a raised boss painted with a hare, with swirling clouds around him, the scene surrounded by stylised scrolls, all suspending from leather ties, the ritual drum painted with cartouches depicting animals feasting on human corpses, the panels divided by skulls and human faces, with an inscription to the interior, 31.5cm and 19.2cm, the gong 1.6kg. (2)

Cf. J Jeldres & B Dayde-Latham, Le Palais du Roi du Cambodge, p.25 for a comparable gong in the throne room of Cambodia's National Palace.