Gilt Carved Yaksha Chauri Bearer Figure. 

Condition: Commensurate with age. 

Size: 3 1/2 x 1 1/8 x 9 5/8 in. 

#2310 . 

The Chauri (fly-whisk) Bearer represents a minor spiritual figure or deity called a yaksha (male) or yakshi (female). Essentially benign, primarily mischievous, often playful and on rare occasions scheming or cannibalistic sex pests, they are associated with small bodies of water and trees, comparable to fairies and fae folk in Western traditions. Originally figures from ancient Deccan folk religion, the yaksha/i became integral parts of the pantheons of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Indeed, they are prominently part of the earliest surviving stone monumental sculptures, preceding those of more significant deity figures, suggesting their universal acceptance before any religious schisms began. The female figures had elaborate headdress and jewelry with heavy spherical breasts, narrow waists, and graceful but ample hips, while the male versions typically posed jauntily with enormous virile mustaches, and both often held the fly-whisk balanced provocatively on their heads or turbans. Some figures, particularly within Buddhist and Jainist interpretations, carry other objects besides the fly-whisk, even weapons, and are sometimes conflated with other deities and spirits, both wrathful and peaceful, reflecting the diverse spread of their myth over numerous millenia.

Commensurate with age.