Untitled

Unknown

1st–2nd century · Red sandstone · Asian Art

This double-sided bracket (vrksadevata) for a gateway (torana) is decorated on either side with a tree-spirit deity known as a yakshi, who holds a flowering tree as a symbol of her fecundity. Her pose is that of salabhanjika ("breaking a branch of the sala tree"): grasping a branch, she thus engages with the fertility of the earth, bringing the tree into flower. Such figures provided an auspicious presence at the entrance to a sacred site.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st–2nd century

Medium

Red sandstone

Culture

India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura region)

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1927