Yaksha Abducting a Woman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2023

Title: Yaksha abducting a woman

Period: Shunga

Date: 1st century BCE

Culture: India, Gangetic region, probably Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh

Medium: Clay

Dimensions: H. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm); W. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm); D. 3/8 in. (1 cm)

Classification: Ceramics

Credit Line: Lent by a private collection

Object Number: TS.422

Abduction in times of civil disorder was an ever-present threat to women in early India. This fear found expression in a genre of clay votives that depict a grotesque yaksha stealing a woman from her home and kin. The demon personifies the dangers of the natural world—remote hills, water holes, and rivers. Offerings of meat and alcohol appeased his violent and poisoned nature.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/890109