Yakshi and attendant / Artist Unknown, India, North India
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1980/2.285
- Title
- Yakshi and attendant
- Artist Nationality
- Indian
- Medium and Support
- terracotta
- Object Creation Date
- 2nd century
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- India (nation)
- Uttar Pradesh (state)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- India (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Uttar Pradesh (state)
- Style/Group/Movement
- miniature terracotta
- Dimensions
- 12.5 cm x 10 cm x 2.5 cm (4 15/16 in. x 3 15/16 in. x 1 in.)
- Century
- 2nd century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- figure
- Physical Description
- This broken fragment depicts a now headless goddess or yakshi standing with a much smaller male attendant. She wears a necklace, bracelets and a girdle consisting of three rows of small round shapes. She stands with her left hand at her waist and the right hand next to the head of her attendant. He wears a turban and large earrings and a belt of a single line of round shapes. They both wear diaphanous lower garments that make them appear nude with both of them with their genitals exposed. The fragment is broken above the male figure’s knees and below the yakshi’s knees.
- Subject Matter
- Yakshi images, like mother goddesses, have a long history in Indian art. Yakshi are nature goddesses, associated with trees and fertility. In this charming terracotta, a yakshi is attended by the figure of a small male figure. Although the figures may appear to be naked, each actually is wearing a diaphanous garment from the waist down. The swelling volumes of the figures mimic the voluptuous forms found in the stone sculpture of the period. This small image was probably pressed into a mold, rather than modeled by hand.
- Early terracotta sculptures such as those on view in the exhibition were once dismissed as “folk art,” but today they are given serious scholarly attention and eagerly collected on the international art market.
- Secondary Keywords
- associated concepts
- jewelry
- objects
- objects of adornment
- objects we use
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- religions
- religions and religious concepts
- sculpture
- sculpture by material
- standing
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 821 x 1071
- File Size
- 91 KB
- Record
- 1980/2.285
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1980-sl-2.285/1980_2.285.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1980-SL-2.285:1980_2.285.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"Yakshi and attendant; Artist Unknown, India, North India." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1980-sl-2.285/1980_2.285.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 14, 2024.