Lot Essay
The Shilpa Prakasha ("Light on Art"), an Orissan text from the 11th century, emphasizes that temple walls must be decorated with yakshis to ensure the temple will be fruitful. It then lists sixteen types of women who are best for this purpose, including a matrimurti, or a mother with a child, as in the present example. Compare with a figure of another type of yakshi, a celestial dancer, with similarly styled hair, square urna and mango tree in P. Pal, Indian Sculpture, vol. 2, 1988, cat. no. 44, p. 114-115.