Angkor Vogue: Sculpted Evidence of Imported Luxury Textiles in the Courts of Kings and Temples

Comparison of bas relief medallions at Angkor with medallion patterns on Chinese silk and Indian cotton textiles provides compelling evidence that fabrics from these regions were actually in use in the courts of Khmer kings. They served two purposes. One was as items of opulent palace decoration; this role transferred to stone temples, homes of the gods. Second, they represented a canopy or ceiling above a sacred space. Another group, here termed "pseudomedallions," is described and their function speculated on. While the original textiles at Angkor have long since disappeared, their representations in stone survive as a memorial to these practices.