A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF YASHODA WITH KRISHNA AS A CHILD South India, 17^th-18^th century. Standing atop a large, elaborate and tiered base with incised decoration and supported by four long-tailed birds with fruit in their beaks. Yashoda is dressed in a long dhoti with punched decoration and richly adorned with beaded jewelry and floral sashes, holding the child Krishna in her right arm, the face with large almond-shaped eyes, the ears with ornate earrings, the long hair tied at the back in the form of a serpent behind a beaded headdress.

Provenance: German trade.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear and some casting flaws, losses to the accessories held in the left hand of the deity and the right hand of the child, small dents and nicks, light scratches. Fine, dark patina.

Weight: 8,693 g
Dimensions: Height 48.8 cm

This tender image of maternal affection depicts the child Krishna being held by his foster mother, Yashoda. In infancy Krishna had been hidden from the murderous king Kamsa of Mathura to be raised in safety by foster parents.

Expert's note: While the deity depicted here is most likely Yashoda, mimicking her stepson Krishna's typical stance and holding the child in her arms, her serpent hairstyle remotely points to Manasa, the Hindu goddess of snakes, who is sometimes depicted with a child, her son Astika, on her lap.

Literature comparison: Compare a related bronze figure of Yashoda and Krishna, dated 17^th - 18^th century, in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences in Sydney, object number 2003/136/37. Compare a related bronze figure of Yashoda and Krishna in the National Museum of Scotland, reference number A.1911.424. Compare a related but later bronze figure of Yashoda and Krishna, dated to the 19^th century, in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 653(IS).