Rouchomovsky Skeleton

Rouchhomovsky Skeleton and Coffin, View 1

The Rouchhomovsky Skeleton was sold at a Sotheby auction in April this year for $365,000. I found this little fellow while searching for something else and thought he was incredibly interesting.

Rouchhomovsky Skeleton and Coffin, View 2

Searching for more information about this, I found that this morbid piece of art was created by Russian silversmith Israel Rouchhomovsky (1860-1934), between 1892-1906 and is an example of "Jewish gothic"....

Rouchhomovsky Skeleton

The solid gold skeleton stands just 3.5 inches, but has 176 parts....

Coffin Lid

The velvet-lined silver coffin is just under 4.5 inches in length -- here, the cover depicts the journey in the footsteps of the Angel of Death, surrounded by the faces of infants alternately laughing and crying....

Coffin, side 1....

This end depicts the attributes of the arts....

Coffin, side 2....

And this end depicts the attributes of war.

For more info, check out these links:

http://www.theawl.com/2013/04/this-functional-miniscule-gold-skeleton-can-be-yours-on-monday

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/462593/20130429/rouchomovsky-skeleton-jewish-history.htm