The searing desert wind has long destroyed most of the clay buildings at Niya but the poplar wood skeleton of the many half-timbered houses had survived in the dry desert atmosphere. Stein describes the discovery of this carved wooden beam in a central room: 'The only find in this room, but a very interesting one, was the massive decorated double-bracket … Both sides … as well as its under-surface, bear well-designed though coarsely executed motifs in bold relievo. Monsters of the composite type, such as Gāndārah borrowed from Hellenistic art and Central-Asian Buddhist art also cherished, with crocodile heads, winged bodies, and the tail and feet of lions, fill the side panels on each vertical face. The central panel is occupied by a vase holding long curving stems which end alternately in broad leaves and fruits. The whole arrangement recalls that of an Indo-Corinthian capital.'
Wood
The National Museum, New Delhi, 2003/6/1537