Yama as Dharma, the Judge of the Deceased with His Consorts (miniature stele) (800s): Art, History and Details

Yama as Dharma, the Judge of the Deceased with His Consorts (miniature stele) (800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This miniature stele (partially broken on one side) depicts the God of Death, Yama, flanked by his consorts. Yama is depicted in his aspect as the Judge of the Deceased, Dharma, which is suggested by the balance he holds in his hands with two figures on each extreme of the scale. His consorts each carry a bowl and a different type of spear. He was probably originally surrounded by four of them, two on each side, but only three now remain.

Object facts

• Title: Yama as Dharma, the Judge of the Deceased with His Consorts (miniature stele)
• Date: 800s
• Culture: Northwest India or Kashmir, 9th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: schist
• Dimensions: Overall: 6 x 12 cm (2 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1982.134

Collection credit

Gift of Willard G. Clark

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (January 1983): 3–55.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.