The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 5, 2026

A vertically oriented toned photograph depicts a massive, nearly spherical boulder on a sloping rock surface. Three men with light skin tones pose around its base. On our left, a man in white clothing and a helmet stands looking toward us. A second man sits cross-legged beneath the boulder's overhang. On our right, a third man in a suit reaches up toward the stone. The image features warm brown tones.

Krishna's Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram

c. 1900s

Unidentified Photographer

early 20th century
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.)
Gift of Barbara Tannenbaum and Mark Soppeland 2019.68
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

It was popular during the early 1900s to tone silver gelatin photographs with gold to give them a warm glow.

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.
  • ?–2015
    (Pump Park Vintage Photography, Ltd., Downpatrick, United Kingdom)
    2015–2019
    Barbara L. Tannenbaum, Beachwood, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    March 4, 2019–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2021-February 6, 2022).
  • {{cite web|title=Krishna's Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram|url=false|author=Unidentified Photographer|year=c. 1900s|access-date=05 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.68