Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Figurine of a yakshi or courtesan
India, Western Deccan, probably Bhokardan, Maharashtra
Not on view
This ivory figurine of a bejeweled and garlanded woman was recovered during excavation of a merchant’s villa at Pompeii, Italy, in 1938. Similar to sandstone versions that bracket the first-century gateways at the Sanchi stupa, the figure has clear Indian origins. In 1973, a companion figurine was excavated in central India, making clear the region's connections with the export trade of Indian ivory to the Roman Mediterranean. This figurine would have had great appeal in early India, either as a representation of an ideal woman or a courtesan, such as those celebrated in contemporaneous Indian literature. It evidently found a ready market among the wealthy citizens of Pompeii.
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