1000 years of Khmer sculpture: a summary
(part 1: pre-Angkor)
This survey is limited to a concise typology of the different styles in Khmer sculpture, with a minimum of historical information. More information can be found in the truly splendid work Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia by Ibbitson and Jessup (cf. bibliography).
Pre-Angkor period (7th - 8th century)
From the 2nd century on, the south of present-day Cambodia was ruled by the kingdom Funan. In the course of the centuries, Funan gained considerable wealth with its prosperous trade and underwent the strong cultural and religious influence from India. In the sixth century Indiašs power began to wane and by the 7th century it finally had to hand over power to Cambodia. In the first half of the 7th century the first inscriptions in the Khmer language tell of the great monarch Isanavarman at Sambor Prei Kuk. Although his influence stretched over several neighbouring states - as for instance Chanatburi and Champa - the region remained scattered in a great many small states, that indeed may have agreed to declare their loyalty, but in fact kept their independence. This situation would continue in the 8th century.
The great beauty and perfection of execution of many sculptures from this period is truly impressive. The Khmer based their art on the great sculptural traditions of that time, the important Buddhist schools of the early first millennium: Amravati and Gupta in India, Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, Davaravati in Thailand and the art of Champa. Nonetheless fairly quickly they managed to distill an indigenous style that corresponded to their own nature, bringing forth a quality even unknown in India.
Typical of the pre-Angkor styles is the supporting structure that often is added to the sculptures: an arch surrounding a figure like a halo, fortifying connections between the different parts, or the back that remains relief-like tied to the stone from which the figure is made.
The political scattering is reflected in the great artistic diversity in which different plastic and iconographical traditions coexisted. In architecture and sculpture three main stylistic periods can be discerned:
Of the Sambor Prei Kuk style (600 - ca. 650, central and north) only a few pieces are known, mainly female figures. Far more than the details of the clothing and hairdo, and the sculpting technique, the most typical is the subtle tendency of the modelling toward realism. Without really aiming at anatomical correctness - always alien to Khmer art - the artists do represent the body as a living, vibrating entity. Though clearly present, the Indian influence is transcended right from the beginning, so that the result is immediately Khmer in nature.
The qualitatively unequal Prei Kmeng style (ca. 635 - ca. 700) shows less stylistic unity and the even less identifiable Kompong Preah style (ca 706 - possibly after 800) probably owes its great diversity to the turbulent circumstances of the 8th century.
The typology of sculpture needs two more styles. The southern Phnom Da style (6th - 7th century) represents the earliest phase of Hindu art in Cambodia. The images are usually Vishnuite, but also Shivaite images have been found. The characteristics of this fairly homogeneous style - that harbours Gupta-influences as well - are a supple but solid body and legs, with a protruding hip, an long, thin nose and a pleated hairdo arranged horizontally and vertically. The images wear a simple dress with a folded hem and a belt with a detailed buckle. Secondly there is the Prasat Andet style (late 7th - early 8th century), that harbours stylistically and qualitatively very diverse pieces.
