The pillar was part of a series of elements that formed circular enclosures surrounding Buddhist reliquary monasteries or Stupas. The Kushan period especially in Mathura witnessed a flourishing building activity, dozens of monasteries and stupas dotted the landscape of the region but to this day none of these constructions have survived intact, fragmentary elements of these beautiful buildings survive.
The pillar presented here depicts a Yakshi with a parrot on the front.
Yakshi are female nature spirits who embody fertility and prosperity,
they are often depicted with trees, flowers, animals suggesting a transfer of creative energy between nature and humanity.
The figure depicted in this pillar is delicately carved, looking down at her hand offering food to her parrot. She is richly adorned with a double necklace and large elaborate earrings that extend to her shoulders.
The parrot is balanced on Yakshi's bracelets, enhancing the three-dimensionality and movement of the composition. The parrot whose open beak is close to Yakshi's breast and nipple creates a highly suggestive moment of great intimacy. The upper part of the pillar depicts a miniature palace scene animated by three figures in a loggia that seem to interact with the scene below. The back is finely carved with three large lotus flowers.

Provenance: Private Italian collection.
Purchased in Switzerland, Moonsail, 13 July 2007