A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1.37

c9.s1.37

A mutilated colossal standing statue of a male, perhaps representing the Yaksha demi-god Kuvera, god of wealth, found at Parkham in the Mathurā District, and now in the Mathurā Museum, is proved by its inscription to date from the Maurya age. The material is polished grey sandstone similar to that used for the Asoka pillars. The height, including pedestal, is 8 feet 8 inches, and the breadth across the shoulders is 2 feet 8 inches. The excessively bulky body is clothed in a waistcloth (*dhōtī*) held round the loins by means of a flat girdle tied in a knot in front. A second flat girdle is bound round the chest. The ornaments are a necklace and a torque from which four tassels hang down on the back. The clumsiness of the modelling suggests that the prototype must have been a figure carved from a log of wood. Some praise may be given to the treatment of the drapery.⁴