3-065-972 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Portrait model of the King of Siam, 1874. 'An interesting work of art has lately been manufactured by Messrs. Hunt and Roskell for his Majesty the King of Siam...It is an equestrian statuette group, in silver, representing the King attired in military uniform and mounted on horseback. The base of the pedestal is supported by four kneeling figures of white elephants. This animal...is cherished at Bangkok with extreme veneration, a few specimens being kept there in the stables of the Royal palace. There is a fancy in the Buddhist religious philosophy or mythology that the divine person of Eastern Asiatic worship, having passed through a multitude of living forms upon earth in a countless series of ages, finished by inhabiting the body of a white elephant...A devout Siamese has been observed to whisper his secrets into an elephant's ear, and seemingly to ask counsel of that mystic wisdom...As the emblem of Siamese Royalty, the white elephant is figured upon coins, flags, and seals; hence its appearance in the handsome table ornament Messrs. Hunt and Roskell have made for the King'. From "Illustrated London News", 1874.