© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAsian Art

Balakrishna

Place CreatedIndia, Asia

CultureIndia

Date12th-13th Century

MediumStone

Credit LineGift of Robert and Ann Walzer

Dimensions14 in. (35.6 cm)

Object number1997.010.010

Label TextRaised in a village of cowherders, the divine child Krishna (Balakrishna) naturally developed a love for butter, which he often mischievously snuck from butterpots throughout the village. Here, he dances in pure joy, holding a ball of butter in his right hand. He is auspiciously adorned with elaborate jewelry and encircled by an incomplete prabhavali (circle of light), suggesting the playful toddler’s divine identity.
Exhibition HistoryExposition de Sculptures et Bronzes Anciens de l'Inde, C.T.Loo, Paris, France, June 14 - July 31, 1935
The Art of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Michael C. Carlos Museum, November 8, 1997 - January 4, 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, September 19, 2023 - Present
Published ReferencesExposition de Sculptures et Bronzes Anciens de l'Inde (Paris: C.T. Loo, 1935), 11-12, number 26.
H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium (New York: Seven Arts Book Society, 1952), 75, number 329, plate 192.

ProvenanceWith Ching Tsai Loo (1880-1957) [CT Loo], Paris, France, 1935. Ex coll. Samuel H. Minkenhof (1879-1956), Amsterdam and New York, by 1952. With John Klejman (1906-1995) [JJ Klejman Gallery], New York, New York, possibly ca. March 1957. Ex coll. Robert and Ann Walzer, United States, purchased January 1974.

Status

On view

Collections