The sacred sculpture of Thailand
the Alexander B. Griswold collection, the Walters Art Gallery
The sculpture of Thailand includes some of the most beautiful and significant works made anywhere in Asia, but it is among the least studied and least well understood. This pathbreaking and authoritative book tells the story of this sculpture, beginning with the art of the kingdom of Dvaravati in the seventh century and ending with the abandonment of the city of Ayutthaya in 1767. Hiram W. Woodward, Jr., the principal author, bases his account on a study of the most important and comprehensive collection outside Thailand, that formed by the pioneering American scholar Alexander B. Griswold and bequeathed to the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland. An unprecedented array of technical tests has been carried out on the Griswold sculptures. Thermoluminescence analysis has determined age, metal analysis has revealed the content of the alloys, and clay-core analysis has provided insights into probable place of origin. Conclusions drawn from these tests have been integrated into Dr. Woodward's narrative. Never before has the sequence of styles and the development of regional traditions been presented so clearly. The results of the tests, presented in full, will be a resource for students of Thai art for decades.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Nonfiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
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These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Dark tone · Steady pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
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Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
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A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-2959-7665-5
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL704663M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
- Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
- How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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