Head of a Yaksha from Sanchi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2023

Title: Head of yaksha

Period: Satavahana

Date: early 1st century CE

Culture: India, Sanchi Stupa 1, Bhopal district, Madhya Pradesh

Medium: Sandstone

Dimensions: H. 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm); W. 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm); Est. D. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Museum für Asiatische Kunst – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Object Number: TS.047

Rights and Reproduction: bpk Bildagentur/Museum fuer Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen/Iris Papadopoulos/Art Resource, NY

This male head is among the earliest freestanding sculptures directly associated with Buddhist worship—prior to this, fully sculpted figures were devoted to nature deity shrines. It likely belonged to a male figure affixed to the upper crossbar of a ceremonial gateway at Sanchi Stupa 1, which was itself richly adorned with narrative scenes, an abundance of nature deities, and mythical aquatic creatures. Note the distinctive cross-tying of the turban seen here that culminates in a forehead bun backed by a fanlike arrangement of the cloth ends; such tying techniques are seen in images of nobility in the late Satavahana period.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/761653