This figure of a monkey is probably Hanuman the heroic deity of the Hindu epic the Ramayana. He is unusually depicted unclothed and dancing with a lively expression on his face. A circular stand supporting the left leg was probably once attached to a battle standard. Images of Hanuman raised up on a standard going into battle can be found on stone reliefs at Angkor. This piece was reportedly found at Angkor Borei, a pre-Angkorean centre in the Mekong Delta region of Cambodia. Strong links to the coastal trading centre of Oc Eo and new ideas and cultural influences would contributed to the development of art styles and sophisticated technologies such as bronze-casting in the early centuries of the Common Era.
