The post-Bayon khmer style influenced early Lao Buddha images as in the Pra Bang, which was the prototype. Later this model became the principal Lao style, especially with respect to the form of the head and hair shape and lasted until the late era, being influenced by the Lanna and Sukhothai styles especially in Buddha seated with folded legs in the Maravijaya posture, the art of Luang Prabang’s craftsmen. Later when Laos further developed its relationships with Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin, the two styles appear in combination with Vientiane craftsmanship. The Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin styles were closely interrelated and were in the same cultural line as Lao art, as were Lanna and Sukhothai.
The adjoining styles from the neighboring states of Cham and Vietnam had almost no influence on Lao art because they were distant from the Lao style and derived from a different cultural basis. The art of the Lao Buddha image is conservative and traditional, adopting only influences that blended rather than clashed with it. Thus, present-day Lao Buddha images differ little from those created in the past. A distinctly Lao identity still prevails, and it can be classified into two main periods: the Early and the Late Eras of the art of the Lao Buddha image.
