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During the 11th Century A.D., Thai tribes
migrating from southeastern China infiltrated
and settled in the region of northern Thailand.
By the beginning of the 14th Century, the
independent Kingdom of Lan Na was
established under the leadership of the
dynamic King Mengrai. At the height of its
power, the Lan Na Kingdom controlled most of
contemporary northern Thailand, extending
into parts of western Laos, and rivaled
Ayutthaya. The cultural and political center
was the city of Chiang Mai, founded in 1327
A.D. The art of the Lan Na Kingdom, produced
between the 11th and 18th centuries, when
the kingdom was absorbed into greater Siam,
can be divided into two distinctive styles. The
early style is called Chiang San after the city
where many examples where discovered.
Works from the Chiang San period reveal a
wide range of influences, primarily from India
and Cambodia. The later style is known as
Chain Mai, after the capital city, although it is
sometimes referred to as Late Chiang San.
Images of this later type reflect the Lan Na
Kingdom’s contact with the central Sukhothai
Kingdom from the 15th Century onwards.
This wooden sculpture of Tara from Lan Na
exemplifies why Lan Na art style is perhaps
the most intriguing style in Thailand. It shows
how Theravada art style and Khmer style
interact and integrate with each other, as
shown by the exquisitely fine and precise
carvings, as well as perfectly symmetrical
patterns. Ornately dressed with an elaborate
crown in decorated outfit, wearing flamboyant
jewelry and keyura, Tara is depicted as a
sweet, youthful, and beautiful, and elegantly
smiling female in bodhisattva outlook. Her
facial features are distinctively Lan Na, as
shown by her slender eyebrows, elongated
eyes, and thin lips. She has fully-grown
breasts, a small waist, and slim physique,
which is adopted from the earliest
manifestation of a yakshi. She wears a sampot
shaped like a waterfall, visibly influence by the
Khmer Angkor style clothing.
- (CB.3413)
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