id: 138613 accession number: 1962.45 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.45 updated: 2019-09-19 08:00:32.432000 Head of a Yaksha, c. 125 BC. Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Shunga Period (c. 187-78 BC). Mottled red sandstone; overall: 48.2 x 40 x 35.6 cm (19 x 15 3/4 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1962.45 title: Head of a Yaksha title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 125 BC creation date earliest: 150 creation date latest: 50 current location: 242A Ancient India creditline: Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, Shunga Period (c. 187-78 BC) technique: mottled red sandstone department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art - Sunga type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 48.2 x 40 x 35.6 cm (19 x 15 3/4 x 14 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review - 1962 opening date: 1962-10-24T04:00:00 Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 24-November 25, 1962). title: Tree and Serpent: The Evolution of Early Buddhist Art in India opening date: 2020-11-10T05:00:00 Tree and Serpent: The Evolution of Early Buddhist Art in India. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (November 10, 2020-February 14, 2021). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (William H. Wolff, New York, NY, ?-1962, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1962 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1962-present date: 1962- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: Colossal statues of yakshas, male divinities who personify the productive forces of nature, were especially popular in the northern Indian region around the ancient city of Mathura. They were installed in shrines in parks and gardens, often associated with extraordinary trees. The red sandstone is from a nearby quarry, called Sikri. wall description: Images of yakshas, often imposing in scale, were worshipped in shrines, usually under a special tree, in the hopes that they will grant prosperity and wealth. Many iconic yaksha figures grasp a bag of money. Some were thought to preside over pregnancy and childbirth and to be responsible either for a successful birth or miscarriage. Yakshas were an ambivalent, but widely venerated category of divinities, popular on a local level and not necessarily part of an organized religious system, such as Buddhism or Hinduism. Early Indian texts state that Mathura was famous for its large numbers of yakshas. The heavy round volumes of the face, earring, and turban are stylistic features of art from Mathura during this period. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 228 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n252 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 228 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n252 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 287 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n307 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. page number: Reproduced: p. 11 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n26 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.45/1962.45_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.45/1962.45_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.45/1962.45_full.tif