With knees bent and weight shifted to one side, this early 20th century Thai sculpture of a court performer is imbued with movement, as though about to spring into a traditional dance. The figure is a wonderful example of southeast Asian craftsmanship, sculpted with a carved wooden form and finished with polychromed lacquer and mixed-media elements. The dancer is dressed in red with courtly garments, further embellished with applied filigree decoration and inlaid beads of mirror and blue glass. Time has imparted a wonderful antique patina, with minor losses to the painted finish and traces of gilt pigment that suggest the dancer's robes were once shimmering with gold.