In the shadow of Prè Rup temple, where sandstone towers have watched over the Angkor plain for nine centuries, a quiet act of restoration brought ancient craft back to ancient art. In 2018, Eric Stocker was invited to do something remarkable: use traditional Cambodian lacquer to conserve the very Buddhas it was first created to adorn.
A Temple Between Eras
Prè Rup was built in 961 CE by King Rajendravarman II, one of the great builders of the Angkorian empire. A Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, it later became a site of Buddhist worship, and over the centuries its niches and sanctuaries accumulated a collection of Buddha statues — some carved in stone, others modelled in stucco and finished with lacquer and gilding. Time, weather, and neglect had taken their toll. The lacquered surfaces had deteriorated, exposing the vulnerable substrates beneath to moisture and biological attack.
In 2018, the APSARA Authority — the Cambodian body responsible for the management and conservation of Angkor — approached Eric with a proposal that carried both professional and personal significance. They asked him to lead a training program for thirty conservation professionals, teaching them to use traditional Cambodian lacquer techniques for the restoration of the temple's Buddha statues. It was, in essence, an invitation to close a circle that had been open for a thousand years.
"We were not bringing something new to Prè Rup. We were returning something that had been taken away by time. The same lacquer, from the same trees, applied with the same gestures. Only the hands were different."
Traditional Methods for Ancient Art
The decision to use traditional Cambodian lacquer rather than modern synthetic conservation materials was deliberate and significant. Synthetic coatings — acrylics, polyurethanes, epoxies — are standard in much of the conservation world. They are predictable, fast-curing, and well-documented. But they are also fundamentally alien to the objects they are meant to protect. A Buddha statue originally finished in natural lacquer responds differently to synthetic coatings: the materials expand and contract at different rates, the visual qualities diverge, and the long-term compatibility is uncertain.
Natural lacquer, by contrast, is the original material. It bonds with the existing substrate in the way it was always meant to. Its curing properties are suited to the tropical climate of Angkor. Its visual qualities — the depth, the warmth, the particular way it ages — are consistent with the aesthetic intentions of the original makers. Using it was not a nostalgic choice. It was the most technically sound one.
Thirty Conservators, One Tradition
Over the course of the project, which extended from 2018 to 2020, Eric trained thirty APSARA conservation professionals in the preparation, application, and finishing of natural Cambodian lacquer. Many had formal training in modern conservation methods but had never worked with traditional materials. The program was intensive and hands-on — the only way lacquer can be learned. By the project's conclusion, a new generation of Cambodian conservators possessed the skills to maintain and restore lacquered heritage using the very materials that created it.
The Buddhas of Prè Rup now carry fresh layers of Cambodian lacquer — the same sap from the same species of tree that Angkorian artisans used nine centuries ago. It is a small project in the vast landscape of Angkor's conservation needs. But it is also a profound one: proof that traditional knowledge, when preserved and transmitted, remains not merely beautiful but functional, not merely historical but urgently present.
The Carnets d'Atelier are our workshop journals — reflections on craft, material, and the slow work of making things that endure.
Continue exploring:
The same material that conserves Pre Rup's Buddhas — read about the lacquer trees of Kampong Thom. The longer story of the Khmer tradition the studio works in — Cambodian Lacquer Art, Angkor-Inspired.
Browse Buddha sculptures in lacquer — the modern continuation of the same craft.
