Rare Thai bronze Hongsa bird. This is an impressive example standing at 44inch tall and it is extremely heavy, too heavy for my scales but I would say close to 40-50 pounds. Traditionally used by Thai Royalty to decorate palaces and barges or for ceremonial use they are highly symbolic and similar to mythical birds such as the Phoenix. The word Hongsa is derived from the Indian Hamsa, in Indian mythology the Hamsa is a mythical bird of passage representing the release of the souls from the cycle of life a central goal in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.The statue is nicely painted in gold and red with mirror decoration to the wings and it stands on a wooden .The quality of the casting is good with nice detail to the feathers etc. It has aged well with just the right amount of wear to the paintwork making them highly decorative. Overall condition is good with minor losses to the mirror decoration, small chips to the wood base and minor loss of paint etc. Size: 44 x 14 x 18 in.