id: 92759 accession number: 2019.68 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2019.68 updated: Krishna's Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram, c. 1900s. Unidentified Photographer. Gelatin silver print, toned, on collodion printing-out paper; image: 15.3 x 10.8 cm (6 x 4 1/4 in.); paper: 15.3 x 10.8 cm (6 x 4 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Barbara Tannenbaum and Mark Soppeland 2019.68 title: Krishna's Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1900s creation date earliest: 1900 creation date latest: 1950 current location: creditline: Gift of Barbara Tannenbaum and Mark Soppeland copyright: --- culture: early 20th century technique: Gelatin silver print, toned, on collodion printing-out paper department: Photography collection: PH - Misc. 20th Century type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Unidentified Photographer - artist --- measurements: Image: 15.3 x 10.8 cm (6 x 4 1/4 in.); Paper: 15.3 x 10.8 cm (6 x 4 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings (Indian art rotation) opening date: 2021-09-01T04:00:00 Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings (Indian art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2021-February 6, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Pump Park Vintage Photography, Ltd., Downpatrick, United Kingdom) date: ?–2015 footnotes: citations: Barbara L. Tannenbaum, Beachwood, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 2015–2019 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: March 4, 2019– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: It was popular during the early 1900s to tone silver gelatin photographs with gold to give them a warm glow. digital description: wall description: Mahabalipuram is a site on India’s southeastern coast where numerous rock-cut temples and sculptures were carved during the early 600s. The site includes a remarkable, naturally occurring boulder that became known popularly as Krishna’s Butter Ball, thereby merging a geological phenomenon with sacred narrative. If baby Krishna could crawl while holding this monolith as effortlessly in his hand as a ball of butter, he must be a magnificently powerful god.

Colonial-era tourists enjoy their excursion to the site with no indication that they recognized its sanctity. Photographs such as this would have been sent back to Britain for viewers to marvel at the landscape of India. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2019.68/2019.68_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2019.68/2019.68_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2019.68/2019.68_full.tif