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 ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

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 · CC0

A MOMENT TO LOOK

Start 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.

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