figurin, skulptur

2, 24, 57, 58, 69, 73, 87, 89: Function: The function of these small enigmatic terra-cotta figures is not ascertained. They are archaeological in nature and no written or other documentation seem to have survived as to their role. Normal suggestions that they are toys can be ruled out, at least for the ones which show monkeys engaged in explicit sexual games, but perhaps not for the small figures depicting camels and other animals. There are also small figures which play instruments. The next suggestion is normally then that they have some kind of ritual use, which is however not ascertained. The interesting thing is that they have only been found in Khotan in the South-western corner of the Taklimakan desert, Xinjiang, China. Then associated to archaeological layers from the period from the 1st to 10th century AD when Khotan (or then Yotkan/Bhorasan) was an early and important, even flourishing, entry point for Buddhism from India. In many respects they are directly related to Kashmir (Gandhara) south of Karakorum. Monkeys are not found in Xinjiang and there are many ornamental traits in these small figures which have their direct correspondence in Gandharan art.
Acquisition They were acquired in 1895 by Sven Hedin during his first expedition (1893-97). He visited Yotkan, but the acquisitions were made from local peddlers in the bazaar. Every year the Spring-floods exposed objects of this kind from the archaeological layers of what had once been Yotkan.
Why this is a masterpiece
These kinds of objects, which are found in a small number of museums in the world, have aroused a lot of attention because of their enigmatic nature, their naive but at the same time, explicit character, and because they point to the fact that cultural transfers from India to China did not only contain Buddhist texts and Gandharan art but also elements of what might be “folk-culture”.
History of the Object
The early history of these objects, before they were covered by sediments later to be exposed by Spring floods is not known. Sven Hedin acquired them in 1895 and donated the collection the Museum of Ethnography in 1903. (Virtual Collection of Masterpieces, http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/Default.aspx)