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
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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.
- Veilingcat. Collection Léonce Rosenberg, Amsterdam (A.Mak), 13 januari 1920, nr. 47.
- D. Gupta, Buddhist sculpture from Sanghol. A recent discovery. New Delhi, 1985.
- Heinz Mode, Mathura: Metropole altindischer Steinskulptur, Leipzig 1986, fign. 12-14 ; 17-19, 22.
- 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.

Persistent URL

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:
https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200106310