John L. Severance Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians
Creator not recorded by the museum
- Date
- 100s CE
- Medium
- red sandstone
- Dimensions
- Overall: 80 x 22.9 x 24 cm (31 1/2 x 9 x 9 7/16 in.)
- Country / context
- India
- Movement / tradition
- South Asian arts
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- South Asian arts ↗
This pillar reflects the influence of Greco-Roman culture on Indian art and the influence of Gandharan styles and bacchanalian themes on the art of Mathura. The pillar depicts female figures who, seemingly intoxicated, play instruments and dance. Two additional scenes are carved on the base. First, a hunchbacked woman pours wine for an obese male fertility figure (yaksha). The second scene probably illustrates the story of the horse-headed yakshi who ate her victims.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.Follow a connection.
Explore the tradition ↗
↗View from the Top of the Rock, looking over the native Town, Trichinopoly, India
Nicholas & Co.
↗Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir with Sons and Courtiers
Bourne & Shepherd
↗Double-Faced Crossbar from a Railing
Creator not recorded
↗Standing Buddha
Creator not recorded