Female figure, perhaps an attendant

The identity of this figure is uncertain. The fact that both hands are extended and shaped to hold something (it is not known what) suggests that the figure may have been an attendant.

An inscription on its base in Kannada—the language spoken in the South Indian state of Karnataka—refers
to the Hindu god Krishna. The figure may therefore have attended images of Krishna and his wife.

The heavy proportions, stylized skirt, and bold facial features are typical of South Indian metal statuary of the 1700s and 1800s. The delicate and careful detailing suggests that this figure was a royal object connected with Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar of Mysore (reigned 1799–1868), the most important force in the resurgence of Hindu art during the first half of the nineteenth century.