An intermediary Buddhist figure half way between the Buddha and the believer, and a future Buddha himself, the Boddhisattva Maitreya can be recognised by the small stupa in his hair.
As a being with the ability to reach nirvana, Maitreya seems to have enjoyed relative popularity during the early period of Khmer art.
He is one of the most frequently portrayed Bodhisattvas in pre-Angkor art and has a unique place in the Buddhist pantheon.
His youthful appearance, stylised facial features and the meticulously treated long curls of his braided bun are characteristic of Khmer art during the pre-Angkor period, around the 8th century in the southern quarter of present-day Cambodia.
This figure, finely sculpted in highly polished sandstone, demonstrates the high technical and plastic standard of divine images during that period..