The position of his left arm and hand holding the robe in this way is an iconographical convention which was relatively unusual in Dvaravati statuary, a direct borrowing form the classic 5th century Indian Gupta images that had a profound influence on the Dvaravati image makers. The slight tribhanga, the unusual position of the left hand and the uncovered right shoulder show subtle Indic Srivijaya influences that by the mid to late 8th century had started to make artistic inroads into the local iconography to the north of the peninsular. The idea of Buddha’s robe having many folded pleats is unusual even in later Thai art, only seen post Khmer in the south and was heavily absorbed into both the later Chaiya and Nakon Si Thammarat schools, southern styles that ran parallel to the Lopburi and later Ayutthaya schools of Thai art. Overall, the image is classic Dvaravati art with a subtle twist that hints at a possible important development for the art of the south.

Dvaravati art was chiefly the work of the Mon people whose capital seems to have been around modern day Nakhon Pathom, with influence spread out over most of central Thailand and the northern coast of the Gulf of Siam. (Related branches of Mon in lower Burma were responsible for the triumphs of Pagan art in the 11th and 12th centuries). It is by far the most important and influential of the early preThai Buddhist schools of art. Dvaravati images where being made from around the 6th century almost in an unbroken line well into the 12th century. The iconographical conventions of this school have stood the test of time and subsequently went on to influence the Khmer and post Khmer schools of Thai art and can still be traced in the national images created today.

Age: 8th to 9th Century.

Height: On base 18 cm, off base 17.5 cm.