Female nature spirit

anonymous, c. 100 - c. 200

A female nature spirit (yakshi) stands beneath a tree. On her left shoulder she is carrying a basket with toilet articles. The fabric of her clothing as diaphanous, so that it clearly reveals the luscious curves of her body. This sculpted pilaster formed part of the railing of a stupa, a Buddhist shrine.

  • Artwork typesculpture, fragment, yakshi, pijler
  • Object numberAK-MAK-303
  • Dimensionsheight 95 cm x width 22 cm x depth 15 cm
  • Physical characteristicssandstone

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Female nature spirit

  • Object type

  • Object number

    AK-MAK-303

  • Description

    Pijler van een stupa-omheining voorstellende een yakshini met een offerande. De pijler is uitgevoerd in rode zandsteen met geel-witte stippen.

Creation

  • Creation

    anonymous, Mathura

  • Dating

    c. 100 - c. 200

  • Search further with

  • School / Style

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    sandstone

  • Dimensions

    height 95 cm x width 22 cm x depth 15 cm

Explanatory note

  • Collection Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947), an art dealer in Paris, specializing in contemporary painting. Sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1920 (auction house A. Mak, 13 January 1920, no. 47) and bought by the painter and collector Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp (1874-1950). Loaned to the Asian Art society’s exhibition Indische Beeldhouwkunst, The Hague, 1922 (no. 6). Purchased by the Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands from Nieuwenkamp’s heirs in 1960. Permanently loaned to the Rijksmuseum by the Asian Art Society in 1972.

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (purchase heirs W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, 1960)

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; collection Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947);{Note RMA.}...; from the heirs of Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp (1874-1950), fl. 9,500, to the Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst, 1960;{Note RMA.} from whom on loan to the museum, 1972

Documentation

    • A.K. Coomaraswamy, Yaksas, Washington 1928-1931.
    • D. Gupta, Buddhist sculpture from Sanghol. A recent discovery. New Delhi, 1985.
    • Veilingcat. Collection Léonce Rosenberg, Amsterdam (A.Mak), 13 januari 1920, nr. 47.
    • G. Roth, 'The woman and Tree Motif, Salabhanjika-dalama-lika ni Prakrit + Sanskrit texts with special reference to Silpasastra including notes on Dohada and related Jaina Texts', Jaina Journal, Calcutta XIV 14 april 1980. p. 147-185.
    • Heinz Mode, Mathura: Metropole altindischer Steinskulptur, Leipzig 1986, fign. 12-14 ; 17-19, 22.

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