Lan Xang

Refers to the style and period surrounding the culture that flourished in the Cambodian kingdom of Lan Xang (1353-1707 CE). The style of this period is based on indigenous innovations and Khmer and Thai influences. In religious architecture, the style is evidenced in the Vat Visum (1503 CE) and in the Vat Xieng Thong (1561 CE), featuring grandiose stupas or reliquary monuments, tiled, sloping, overlapped roofs, eaves supported by corbels or by gilded or lacquered consoles, and wood construction. Secular buildings are constructed in wood also and feature gilded low reliefs. In this period, the sanctuary and meeting house structure housing holy images developed and expanded. Sculpture in this style is overwhelmingly Buddhist in theme and iconography, though some Hindu sculptures exist, and features figures in bronze, stone, precious metals, dry lacquer, and terracotta.