recognised in the near identical iconography and chisel aptitude of lintels from Preah Kô and a lintel fragment from Prasat O Ka-aek. During the French protectorate of Cambodia, French archeologist Henri Groslier set up a school for carvers as a rescue mission to protect, not only Khmer art and workmanship, but "the very essence of Cambodge". Groslier's focused essentially on the reproduction of ancient art forms and artifacts. But according to Ingrid Muan, his legacy in favour of Khmer ornamentation was a "particular frame of copying" that still haunts visual production with a "colonial conception of Khmerness". In contemporary workshops the master sculptor also acts as a quality controller, marking the sculptures with pencil where they need to be corrected. The final tasks are the detailed and refined carving , followed by cleaning and polishing with a grinding stone which bring the work to completion. The time it takes to complete a sculpture, depends on the skill level of the artist, however, one large and detailed decorative lintel can take as long as three months for two master sculptors to complete. Apprenticeship: learning from the workshop of the master worker As kbach is an oral tradition, passed down through learning and making, there is considerable variety of ways to create an undisputed system of kbach schools. From the evidence of the remaining kbach in the ruins of Angkor Wat, George Groslier proved that similar pilasters carved by many artists indicate that artisans possessed common knowledge, and similar technical practices and abilities, which were informed by consistent and standardised training. Basic sculptural training can take anywhere between six months and three years, depending on the aptitude of the individual. It takes over ten years to be an accomplished artist worthy of the title of master. At no time are pupils instructed to draw from nature directly. Instead they are required to reproduce the traditional kbach idealised forms handed down and transformed from generation to generation. Economics Today workshops are paid in cash for the outputs of their labour, but in medieval Cambodia, where there was no system of easily exchanged currency, the inscriptions tell of a system of commerce where donations, payments, and taxes were exchanged between temples, individuals, and the state in numerous forms , including land, grain, livestock, textiles, and metals. Sculptors may also have been compelled to provide their services out of religious or regal obligation. Applications of