Boldy carved, the infant crawling on all fours with one hand cradling the stolen butter ball before his puffed chest. The face meticulously detailed with a resolute expression marked by large almond-shaped eyes, furrowed brows, and full bow-shaped lips. The hair arranged in tight curls echoing the tassels hanging from the band tied around his waist, apart from which he is nude.

Provenance: From a European private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, predominantly from centuries of worship within the culture, signs of weathering and erosion, small nicks, chips, small old repairs.

Weight: 163 g
Dimensions: Length 10.3 cm

Krishna, hero of the Bhagavata Purana epic and deity worshiped by Vaishnava Hinduism, is depicted here in his infancy as Gopala, the impish ‘Butter Thief’, holding the butter ball he stole from his foster mother. He supports his weight on his left arm while he holds the butter ball to his chest with his right hand. His elegant cascading curls fall in a wig-like hairdo of small round curls. This figure is related stylistically to 6th-7th century Nepalese stone sculptures that reflect classic conventions of Gupta period (320-c. 550 A.D.) sculpture in India, such as the square face, swelling chest, coiffure of small snail-shell curls, simple ornaments, and a triumphant posture of bold, heroic portrayals. This Gopala image is important as it relates stylistically to the early Kaliya and other figures and as evidence of a cult of Krishna existing in Nepal as early as the 7th century, because although it is known that Krishna was worshiped from the 5th century in India, he is represented profusely in Nepalese sculpture and painting from the 15th century onwards.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Nepalese stone figure of the infant Krishna, 8.4 cm long, dated 6^th-7^th century, in the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 77.203.