This talk follows the trail of one of Southeast Asian art history’s most enduring mysteries: the Prakhon Chai hoard, a cluster of Buddhist bronzes reportedly found in northeast Thailand in the mid-1960s and soon dispersed across international collections. Their murky discovery, uncertain provenance, and inconsistent attributions have long baffled scholars.

At the heart of the investigation is a small bronze bodhisattva now at the Art Institute of Chicago. Often identified as the future Buddha Maitreya but never convincingly so, the figure offers clues that point both toward—and away from—the Prakhon Chai group. Through close comparison with related bronzes in Thailand and the United States, I explore whether this piece truly belongs to the so-called hoard, and reconsider how such objects have been named, classified, and circulated over the years.

The talk also probes the wider network behind the hoard—dealers, collectors, and narratives shaped by the art market and modern national boundaries. These forces complicate our understanding of the bronzes’ original context and the cultural world of the Khorat Plateau in the 7th–8th centuries.

By piecing together scattered evidence, I propose a more nuanced picture of bronze production, mobility, and Buddhist devotion in early Southeast Asia—and a fresh look at a case that remains far from closed.