Cast Metal Four-Faced Phra Phrom, 38 Inches Tall

Four faces look out from one head, each with its own crown, and eight arms leave the shoulders. Shoppers often ask for a four-faced Buddha. In Thai shrines, this figure is Phra Phrom (พระพรหม), the local form of Brahma, not a Buddha image. The faces are read as the four Vedas, the old Hindu books taken as the store of knowledge. The arms stand for reach in every direction. On this cast, the upper right hand holds a rosary, a reminder of time turning from birth toward death.

Bangkok made this image famous at the Erawan Shrine. In the 1950s, the Erawan Hotel was going up beside the rack, and work kept going wrong: injuries on site, and a marble shipment that went down. A shrine to Phra Phrom was raised to steady the ground. The hotel is gone. The Grand Hyatt stands there now, and the four-faced shrine is still a place people stop with incense, garlands, and a wish.

Cast and size

The piece is cast metal. Thai metal shops form a figure like this in wax first, pack a heat-proof mold around it, melt the wax out, and pour metal into the empty space. After the mold is broken off, the crowns, fingers, and rosary are cleaned up by hand. The listing does not name the alloy or whether it has a gold coating.

• Height: 38 inches
• Knee to knee: 25 inches
• Faces: four, one toward each side
• Arms: eight; upper right hand with a rosary

Check the doorway and the turn into the room before you order. At this height, it usually needs a freight quote or local pickup in Oxnard.

Care

Dust with a soft dry cloth. Do not use polish unless you want a brighter surface than the cast finish. Keep it under cover if it will sit outside.

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