Crowned Head
Mon period, 8th‒12th century
- Medium
- Stucco
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 27.4 × 22.6 × 17.9 cm (10 3/4 × 8 7/8 × 6 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- Thailand
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Marilynn B. Alsdorf
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This slightly damaged stucco head likely depicts a life-sized male deity (deva) and is characteristic of Mon art from central Thailand, dating to the late first or early second millennium CE. The square face, elongated earlobes, half-closed eyes, and prominent features create a calm, contemplative expression. A central ornament held by a beaded band suggests a crowned deity rather than a Buddha. The head was modeled in wet stucco and originally attached to a laterite structure, likely part of a high-relief frieze at the base of a stupa. Similar decorated bases have been found at major Dvaravati sites such as Nakhon Pathom, Khu Bua, Lopburi, and U Thong.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
