Lot 91
Pre-Columbian, Mayan Territories, El Salvador or Honduras, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A redware cylinder incised with a pair of very lively monkeys, one balancing a striped ball on his hand, both with what appear to be curled tails around their bodies suggesting the presence of other primates. Monkeys are often depicted holding something important or meaningful, and thestriped ball may symbolize cacao. 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. Size: 4.75" in diameter x 6" H (12.1 cm x 15.2 cm)
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.
Provenance: private D. C. collection, California, USA; D. C. is an Emmy Award winning Hollywood writer and Executive Producer, collected before 2000
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#126408
- Condition: Repaired from approximately three pieces. Chips to rim and small losses near break lines. Nice areas of manganese deposits.
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