Sensual Yakshi Figure from Kushan Period, Northern India, 2nd Century

A beautiful and sensual carved pink sandstone figure of a Yakshi, Northern India, Kushan Period, 2/3rd century CE. Provenance: Private collection, South Australia. In Hindu and Buddhist art, auspicious female nature spirits, symbolic of fertility and abundance. Yakshis are typically depicted as beautiful and voluptuous, with wide hips, narrow waists, and exaggerated, spherical breasts. Yaksha and Yakshi have a special place in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. In Hindu mythology, these nature-spirits are semi gods living under the earth in the Himalayas, where they guard the wealth of the earth. In the vedic period, Yaksha worship co-existed with priest-conducted sacrifices. Dimensions: 76.5 cm high, 34 cm wide