Khmer Empire, 9th century. Standing in samabhanga with the legs slightly apart, wearing a short sampot, draped around the waist, knotted with folds falling at the front, pulled through the legs and tucked into the belt at the back, the rounded torso with an incised navel.The serene face with a ridged brow above almond-shaped eyes with incised pupils, a broad nose, and full lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by long pendulous earlobes, the wavy hair pulled up into a columnal chignon behind the tiara incised with stylized palm leaf lappets.Provenance: From an old Belgian private collection. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, extensive wear and losses, nicks, scratches, structural cracks, encrustations, soiling.Weight: 50.2 kgDimensions: Height 102 cmMounted on an associated metal base. (2)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.Expert's note: 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 pre-Angkor period.Auction result comparison: Compare with a related sandstone torso of Vishnu, from the same period and of related size but lacking the head, at Christie's New York in The Doris Wiener Collection on 20 March 2012, lot 158, sold for USD 98,500.