a yakshi bust from bharhut

7/27/2019 A Yakshi Bust From Bharhut

1/4

A Yakshi Bust from Bharhut

Author(s): Ananda CoomaraswamySource: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 29, No. 175 (Oct., 1931), pp. 81-83Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4170332 .

Accessed: 20/10/2011 10:30

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toBulletin of

the Museum of Fine Arts.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mfabhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4170332?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4170332?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mfab


2/4

BULLETINOF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS XXIX, 81Basinghisprocess n Newton's theoryof threeprimarycolors, J. C. Le Blon was the firsttodemonstratehatengravingsn colorcould be pro-ducedby printingrommore hanoneplate. Filled

withenthusiasm,e Blonhoped oturn isdiscoveryintoa profitable nterprise.Twice between 1720and 1736 he foundcapital n Englandto launchhisproject ndtwice he failed ingloriously.Thesecond timehe had to take to his heels and fleeprecipitatelyo the Continent. He still kept hisoptimism, ut had difficultyn finding reshbackers,for his schemeentaileda heavy outlay. Whenhe died in 1741 he was attempting o applyhisinventiono the productionf anatomicallates.HoraceWalpolewroteof himat firsthand thathe was "of surprisingivacityand volubilityandwith a head admirablymechanic, ut a universalprojectornd with at leastone of the qualitieshatattend that vocation, ither a dupe or a cheat; Ithink he former, lthoughas most of his projectsended in the air,the sufferers elieved he latter.As he was muchof an enthusiast, erhaps, ikemostenthusiasts,e was both oneand the other."It is now believed hatLe Blon did not do themezzotintingf hisplateshimself, ut thathis sharewas to supplythe drawing. In our exampleofSt. Catherineafter Correggio,one of the mostsuccessful f his essays,three plates were used.Reddishflesh onespredominatend the lineworkin the hair s notso marked s in some mpressions.

Inadditiono the worksalready eferredotherehave beenpurchasedwithin he past half year m-portantworksby Israhel an Meckenem,Amman,Baldung,Springinklee,Weiditz,Van Dyck, Goya,and Mary Cassatt. For the ornament ollectionmore hantwo thousand rints avebeenacquired,by or afterDucerceau,Boulle,Forty,Guyot, J. B.Huet, de la Joue, Oppenort,Pillement,CharlesGermaineand Augustinde St. Aubin,Vauquer,andWatteau. H. P. R.A Yakshi Bust from Bharhut

THE oldestof thethreegreatIndian tiipaswithelaborately ecoratedstone railings s that ofBharhutor Barhut,an ancient site in Bundelkhand,Central India, half-way between Allahabad andJabalpur. The railing sculptures from this site,executed in a hard red sandstone and, apart fromactual fractures, dmirablypreserved,were long agomade known by Sir Alexander Cunningham(TheStupa of Bharhut, 1879), but his work does notinclude all the known fragments, s partiallyout ofdate, and has long been out of print. All theextantsculptures re supposedto have been removedto the Indian Museum, Calcutta, where they arenow exhibited; but one fragment (published inCunningham, P1. LII, upper left), said to havecome from Batanmara one of several villages nearto Bharhut to which fragments of the railing hadbeen removedfor use as buildingmaterial),remainedin private possession,and now forms a valued item

in the Ross Collection, ntedating y a centuryhethe torso romSdaci.'Like the S&iici orso, he Bharhut culptures apartof a figureof a Yak6i,2 who musthavestoodunder a tree, with right arm raisedto graspitsbranches. FromCunningham'sllustrationlreadymentioned, nd P1. XXIX, Fig. 5, and the IndiaOfficephotograph,erial1041 recordXX a,225 1,it is known hat at leastseven smaller ragmentse-longing o the Museum ustwereonce extant. Withthe aidof these ragmentsnd by comparison iththe complete Yaksi reliefs knownfrom Bharhut,an admirable estorationas been made by Mr.ShunichiroTomita: there existed amplematerialfor the properrightarmand hand, stomachandthigh,and for the completion f the hair,but thepositionof the left arm was taken from otherexamples. The accompanyingmallcut reproducesanother, reviously npublished and and partof asdla tree, which is very like Cunningham's 1.XXIX, 5, and mightwith equal probabilityavebelonged o the Museum igure. The Yaksimusthave stoodupon ome"vehicle",but in the absenceof anyremainsothingmore s suggestedhan hefactof therehaving een ome upportor hefeet.The flowering ala tree (Vatica or Shorearobusta), evelopedromCunningham'sragment,P1.XXIX, Fig. 5, gives o our Yaksi n a morethanusuallyiteral ensea righto thedesignationsulabhanjikd,3 termoriginallyonnectedwiththeIndianertilityestival f "pluckingal-flowers"and applied n architecturalerminologyo allfiguresfthe"woman nd ree" ype.The sculpturesf Bharhut re by no meansuniformn technical ccomplishment,ut rangebetween wo extremes: he first,older in type(thought is probablehatallthe work sapproxi-mately f one andthesamedate,ca. 150 B.C.),exhibitsormsmuch ompressedetweenhe woplanesof the relief, harplyilhouetted ith butlittle oundingf thecontours,ndwitha tendencytorigiditynd strainnthepose;thesecond,llus-trated ythepresentxample,nhighereliefwiththecontoursraciously odelled, true eelingorthe texture f flesh, nda freer nd morenaturalmovement.All thispartiallynticipateshe moresensitivendsensuousreatmentt Snfici, ut heresurvives t Bharhut primitiveaivete hat addsa certainwistfulnesso the otherwiseichandvoluptuousdealofphysical eauty.At Bharhut e arenotmore hana centuryremovedrom hebeginningsf Indianculpturenhardstone. Butnearlyall the sculpturef theearly ndian chool as a markedlynd unmistak-ablyIndian haracter,nd no one hasdoubtedthat trepresentstranslationnto toneof a longantecedenteriesof sculpturesn wood,ivoryorothermaterialsess enduringhan stone. It is

'Described in M F. A. Bulletin, No. 164.2For fuller details regarding the Yakshi type and its significance seeM. F. A. Bulletin, No. 164, A Yaksi Torso from Sanchi; and myYaksas, Pts. I, 11, 1928, 1931.3Vogel, J. Ph., The woman and free, or salabhanjika, in Indianliterature and art, Acta Orientalia, Vol. VIl; and my Yaksas, 11, p. 12.


3/4

XXIX, 82 BULLETINOF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

QYiBu rsr

Yakshi, Bharhul, restored

plausible to connect the appearanceof sculpture nhard stone with the discovery of steel, which wasknown as early as the second centuryB. C., andmay not have been known before the third whenthe sculptures n hard stone are firstmet with.Apart fromserious damage to the nose, the faceis well preserved. The hair is parted, and thencurling, is twisted into a heavy braid, interwovenwith sala-flowers or sala-flowered muslin, falling

Ie~Another Fiagment from Bharhut

overthe left shouldero the hips. A long,heavyribbon, erhaps f flexiblegoldwork, s laidlooselyoverthe hair,crossing n the left side. The eye-browsare shown as archedridges; the eyes arelarge,withendssomewhat xtendedby a wedge-shaped marktowardsthe ears. The mouth isslightly rawndown at the sides. Tattoo marksareshownin low reliefas follows: two lines andan elephant oad on each cheek,three dotsandastrokeon the left cheek, two dots between thebrows; smallflowerson the leftbreastand rightshoulder; ndit is probablehat he wedge-shapedelongation f the eyes, being in reliefand not adirectcontinuationf the lids, s also to be under-stoodas tattooed.1 A twelve-petalledlower,orstarorsun,probably f thingold repousse,s wornon theforehead. The sala-flower prayemergingfromhe hairandresting n the leftcheekrepresentsprobablya freshflowerspray worn on the ear.Heavy earrings,onsistingf a cubeand hickspiral,distend helobesof the ears. A necklaceof fourstringsof graduatedbeads, probablypearls,withlarger, exagonalentral eads,probablyepresent-ing emeralds, angsround he neck; and hanginglower,a chainof twisted oldsupportsn elaboratependantending n a pairof invertedratnatrayaornaments.A flexiblegoldenband passes overthe right houlder, nderthe necklaces, cross hestomach, ndso round he left thigh,andwouldbeseenat the back n real ife. The hand fragment(Cunningham,XXIX, 5) shows braceletsandspiral ingerrings;ndit may be takenforgrantedthat ankletswere worn. The only garments amuslindhoti,the foldsof which appearon one ofthe fragments,xtending romthe waist to belowthe knee; butnoneof thisappearsn the Museumfragment, hich showsthe fleshfoldsof the waist(accidentally mitted n the restoration),ut doesnotinclude he navel. Round the hips andoverthe dhoti thereis a heavy mekhala f squareand round inked beads, and a double chainofcirculareads; andover hese sknotted floweredsashdecoratedwith vajra-likernamentsnd six-petalled flowers,ending in long fringes,fallingbelow the knees.

'In the description following. account is taken of the details affordedby the missing fragments, as embodied in the restoration. 'A similartattoo mark beside the eye will be found in Luard, C. E.,Tattooing in Central India, Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXIII, P1.XX.


4/4

BULLETIN OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS XXIX, 83

Bust of a Yakshi, Bharhut Ross Collection Ca. 150 B. C.The presentfragmentmeasuresnearlytwentyinches in height,eleven and a quartern width,and six in thickness. It musthaveformedpart ofthe face of a cornerrailingpillar, riginallyevenfeet one inch n heightby one foot ten and a half

square in cross-section; he six inches preservedrepresent lmost he whole depth of the relief,butno part of the plane background,n which theremay have been an inscription iving the Yaksi'sname, survives. ANANDA COOMARASWAMY.

a yakshi bust from bharhut

Documents