KHMER, PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD, 9TH CENTURY

The artistic styles that developed during the Pre-Angkor period, before the capital was moved north to Angkor, exhibit a wider range of artistic motifs than those that would develop during the Angkor period. Phnom Da, located in Southern Cambodia, was an important center of artistic creation during the 6th-7th centuries. In the present example, the sampot's particular arrangement of folds and its low placement on the hips, as well as the subtle roundness to the stomach and attentively carved musculature of the back, exemplify the Phnom Da style. For related examples, see P. Dupont, Le Statuaire Preangkorienne, 1955, Pl. VIII(B) and Pl. X. For a discussion of the Phnom Da style, see J. Boisselier, Asie du Sud-Est: Le Cambodge, 1966, pp. 235-238, sec. 162