Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians

AD 100s

Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians, AD 100s. India, Mathura, Kushan Period (1st century-320). Red sandstone; overall: 80 x 22.9 x 24 cm (31 1/2 x 9 x 9 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1977.34 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. The celestial musicians, who play a lyre, castanets, and a triangular harp, evoke bacchanalian connotations.