Cleveland Museum of Art

Male Head, possibly a Yaksha

Date

300s BCE

Medium

terracotta

Culture

Northeastern India, Bihar, Patna, Bulandibagh

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The large turban and earring suggest that this head may have belonged to a yaksha , a nature divinity worshipped for wealth and prosperity. The small scale and terracotta material imply that it may have been installed on a domestic shrine. The naturalism of the fleshy face and parted mouth are stylistic features of sculptures from the Maurya period, and this work was found at the Maurya capital of Pataliputra.

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