A KUSHAN HEAD OF A YAKSHA Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, 2nd/3rd century pink sandstone, the grimacing face with pronounced eyebrows and bared teeth, mounted on bronze stand 22cm high Provenance Private collection, Zurich, acquired between 1945-1975 Christie's Amsterdam, 20-21 November 2007, lot 524 Millner Manolatos, London, April 2008 Collection of the Late Bruno Cooper 2008-2012 Thence by descent (See footnote to lot 121) For a yaksha figure with strikingly similar facial features in the Mathura Museum, see R. C. Sharma, The Splendour of Mathura: Art and Museum, New Delhi 1994, p.107. Sharma describes the mysterious smile which is also evident in this example. Another yaksha, from Bareilly, can be seen in the National Museum, New Delhi (S.P.Gupta (ed.), Masterpieces from the National Museum Collection, New Delhi 1985, p.33. These yaksha figures carried bowls on their heads which contained riches for Siva to distribute to his devotees, which explains the flattened head of this sculpture and that of the National Museum. The example in Mathura retains its bowl.