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Railing Pillar with a Yakshi (Female Nature Divinity) — Northern India, Mathura, Kushan period

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Written by: Seda BozkurtResearcher · Old Master Paintings
Asian Art · Catalogue no. 8804
Northern India, Mathura, Kushan period

Railing Pillar with a Yakshi (Female Nature Divinity)

StatusReference work · Not for sale
Held byCleveland Museum of Art
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This pillar would have been an upright of a stair banister, probably leading to an upper circumambulatory path of a Buddhist or Jain sacred monument known as a stupa. It has the image of a nature divinity grasping the branch of an ashoka tree with one hand and touching her breast full of nourishing milk with the other. The reverse side of the pillar is decorated with a stupa at the top and a partially damaged scene set in the architectural framework below.

Artist / MakerNorthern India, Mathura, Kushan period
Datec. 125–50 CE
Culture / OriginNorthern India, Mathura, Kushan period
Mediumred sandstone
DimensionsOverall: 70.5 x 17.5 cm (27 3/4 x 6 7/8 in.)
DepartmentIndian and Southeast Asian Art
TypeSculpture
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Provenance & Source

Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.

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