Mathura: Indo-Persian capital, Provenance unknown, about 1st Century A.D.

We should not be under the impression that Mathuran sculptures were not influenced by outside sources, merely because more foreign motifs show up in Ghandaran art while, for the most part, Mathuran sculptors concentrated on refining thei traditional styles, It is still possible to frequently identify foreign elements in Mathuran sculpture, particularly that of Hellenistic origin as, for example, the Corinthian-type column capitals or the decorative vines often forming borders for larger carved areas, Persia lent a variety of elements, too, including the Scythian style clothing seen on some of the Brahmanic cult figures and a particular formula for column decoration, Such a formula is exemplified in the capital in the slide, It is not unusual to see adorned beass forming the crowning of columns in Indian art, but it is unusual to see these beasts with foreign attributes: wings, or cross-hatched patterning, The part of the present example, which are more traditionally Indian, are the lotus blooms at the beginning of the capital (under the lions) and just above the lions' backs, the lions themselves, though not necessarily in this style, and the use of an ultimate crowning device: usually a Great Wheel symbol or the like: which here has been modified into a floral pattern subordinately incorporating the lotus, -- Mathura, Curzon Museum