Head of Mucilinda-Buddha Gray sandstone Khmer, Angkor Period, Angkor Wat style

The head is that of the crowned and jeweled Buddha, wearing a diadem behind which is a conical mukuta, and is further adorned with lotus bud-shaped earrings, with the seven-headed naga king Mucilinda spreading out behind his head.

Private New York Estate, 1996 

The fragment as seen with no restoration. Damage to the fragment confirmed entirely to the topmost naga head. Traces of gold leaf/pant on the surface of Buddha head. Various collector/dealer labels and annotations on the decorated reverse.
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The full figure would have been seated on the coils of Mucilinda, the tutelary deity of the lake near Bodh Gaya, who, six weeks after the Buddha attained enlightenment, sheltered him from a violent storm by coiling underneath him while he was still deep in meditation, lifting him off the ground and sheltering him with his multi-headed hood. For further discussion on Angkor Wat period Mucilinda-Buddha images see Helen Ibbitson Jessup and Thierry Zephir, ed.; Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory, Washington 1997, pp. 268 - 270, figs. 73 - 74.