Cleveland Museum of Art

Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians

Date

100s CE

Medium

red sandstone

Culture

India, Mathura, Kushan period

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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