Lot 104
Pre-Columbian, Mexico or Guatemala, Mayan, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A hand-built, nicely burnished Mayan redware vessel, of an attractive form with a body that gracefully bows outward at the midline, the surface adorned with an applied, long-limbed and tailed monkey holding his belly that is punctuated by a prominent openwork navel. Monkeys have always fascinated humankind, with their zany antics that seem to mirror and at times parody humans. Understanding simian creatures as mimics of human culture, most ancients of the Americas regarded the monkey as a mediary between man and the supernatural. It is fitting that this monkey appears on a work of Mayan art, as monkeys are associated with creativity in the Popol Vuh where the older brothers of the hero twins are named "One Monkey" (Hun batz) and "One Artisan" (Hun chouen), translated at times to One Howler monkey and One Spider monkey. These half brothers were believed to be carvers, writers, flautists, singers, in short, men of genius. When they were defeated by the Hero Twins and converted into monkeys, they rose to the occasion and became patrons of the arts, and in time, the object of writers' and carvers' prayers. Size: 5.5" W x 5.25" H (14 cm x 13.3 cm)
Provenance: Ex Peter Arnovick Collection, Los Altos CA
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#112175
- Condition: Intact and fabulous. Normal surface wear as shown with earthen deposits on interior
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