This is Vishnu as Krishna playing the flute. The lower right-hand holds Vishnu’s attribute, Shankha. The right upper hand is repaired.

In South India Krishna is considered one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. But in North India, Krishna is considered a form of Vishnu and not an avatar of Vishnu. One of the Vishnu triads, from Central India, in my collection shows the Dasavatara, and Krishna is not one of them. This Vigraha is from the Patan region, Gujarat. The dealer referred to it as Vishnu-Krishna.

Seated in Ardhapadmasana and is wearing a full set of ornaments, crown, earrings, arm-bands and wristlets. The crown is two-tiered, with the top portion resembling a flame.

Note the inlaid eyes, necklace, band in the crown and the jewel, Kaustubha.

The form is wonderful, and it is a single cast vigraha. It is heavy for its size (9.5cm).

Seated flute-playing Krishna is rarer. There is one other example in my collection.

There is significant wear to the forehead, and this may date prior to the sixteenth century.

2 Mar 2020:  The book on Heritage of Metallic Art of Gujarat, by Swarakamal, has an example of seated flute-playing Krishna from Junagadh, Gujarat. (Page 224 for text and page 226 for the image). It is a two-armed Krishna, and it is dated to the sixteenth/seventeenth century. It is in the Junagadh Museum.