This is Venugopala, Krishna playing the flute. Krishna is one of Vishnu’s avatar, as evidenced by his holding discuss and conch (Shankha and Chakra) in his rear hands. Standing gracefully in Tribanga ( with three bends) he is totally immersed in the playing of the flute, head tilted and eyes closed.

One of the interesting features of this idol is the fact the flute is there and it appears to be the original one. Missing of the flute is very common. Steve, one of the dealers here jokes that he is planning to start side-business to make and sell missing flutes.

Another interesting feature is the left leg is pulled back as compared to the normal right leg going across stance. The idol is about 9 cm in height and the casting is fine.

This is from Tamil Nadu (Casting quality, alloy composition and the incised patterns on the pedestal).  This may date to the eighteenth or the nineteenth century.  The wear is mainly to the crown. Strange. 

 The idol seems to have had an interesting life. There are three different and of colours markings at the bottom. Typically the kind you see from the dealers or from museums.