This is dancing Krishna with a butter ball. This two-armed Krishna, dancing with pure joy, lacks distinct attributes or religious marks. The identification is through examples, context and the butter ball he is holding.

Krishna’s left hand extended like an elephant trunk (Karihasta) and the right hand is holding a butter ball. His body is toned, and the ornamentation is complete. Please take time and see the enlarged images for the details.

Krishna is dancing on a Padmapeetha which in turn sits on the rectangular Bhadrapeetha, a typical Tamil Nadu construction.

This iconography, with minor changes to the ornamentation, dates to the Chola period and has remained popular all along.

This Vigraha is from Tamil Nadu, and it is about 11.5 cm in height. This may be dated to the sixteenth century or earlier. The loops on the side at the waist level, see the back view, are typical of the late Chola period.

There is another version of dancing Krishna with his right hand in Abhaya Mudra. See the photo below for a comparison. The one with Abhaya mudra is from later period.

To clean or not to clean: Normally I tend to clean bronzes to remove dirt. In this case I am keeping it as I got it. The encrustation is strong, and it does not prevent from seeing the features.