Head of the Buddha

Tep Pranam
Sandstone, 41 cm (16")
late 12th to early 13th century
National Museum of Cambodia

This sensitive head of Buddha displays the canonical "Angkor smile" from the reign of Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-1215), a Khmer king who repelled the Cham invaders (1178) from Cambodia and subsequently built many great works including Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, and the Bayon.