There are five headless female stone sculptures in the Gallery G: Ancient Costume room at the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap

There are five headless female stone sculptures in the Gallery G: Ancient Costume room at the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap. They provide a simple introduction to the clothing of female goddesses between the 9th and 13th centuries, though certainly not an exhaustive overview. Without their heads and decorative crowns, as well as missing their arms, attributes and often, their feet, they are like so many damaged sculptures which had once adorned the myriad of sacred ancient temples across the Khmer Empire, but are now left as a testament to the looting and destruction of this once-great culture. In robbing the temples of their gods and goddesses, thieves would chop the statues off above the ankles, leaving their feet and pedestals in-situ, or simply break off the head and hands – whichever was easier to transport and spirit over the border into Thailand and beyond. The scale of the destruction ran into tens of thousands of sculptures, if not more. Today, the temples of Cambodia are devoid of much of their free-standing statuary, simply because it’s not safe to leave these idols in their rightful place. A prime example is this ultra slim torso, very likely to be a representation of Prajnaparamita - believed to have been sculpted in the likeness of Queen Jayarajadevi in an embodiment of perfect wisdom – from the Bayon art period of the late 12th and early 13th century, and the glorious reign of her husband King Jayavarman VII, when the kingdom stretched far and wide into Thailand and Laos. Replacing the narrow vertical pleats of earlier styles, are tiny decorative florets (somewhat akin to the modern Louis Vuitton pattern) and a long, incurved triangular front panel reaching down to the ankles. She has a wide decorated belt at her waist which is slung low on her hips and below her navel. She is missing her head, both arms and attributes and her toes. The sculpture was collected from Prasat East Mebon in the Angkor complex of temples – which was restored by Henri Marchal and Maurice Glaize in 1935 and 1939 - and photographed by the EFEO in 1968. Originally housed at the Angkor Conservation depot, she was moved to be displayed at the Angkor museum in 2007, when it opened.