Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A hand-built pottery cylinder vase of bright orange hues depicting the mythological Monkey Twins as they stand atop delineated legs while actively defecating. Each simian sibling faces to the left while holding out both arms in a braggadocious manner and raising their tail up into the air. The smooth-bodied primates are displayed against a densely crosshatched ground making for a complex presentation. Size: 5.6" W x 7.75" H (14.2 cm x 19.7 cm)

It is fitting that this monkey appears on a work of Maya 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.

To the contrary, however, scholars Prudence M. Rice and Katherine E. South explain: "The monkey twins and the Hero Twins are portrayed as quintessential entertainers: they sing, they dance, and they perform miracles. But monkeys are also viewed negatively as tricksters, doubtless due to their playful child-like behavior and underscored by their magical strategems to elude the traps set for them in Xib'alb'a. Monkeys are also associated with drunkenness, licentiousness, violation of mores, and ritual humor in mocking political positions and office-holders. In the decorative band on a plate from Uaxactun, a monkey gropes a woman's breast; on another vessel a squatting monkey is defecating. Similarly at Chich'en Itza, the "Gallery of the Monkeys" (Structure 5C6) shows standing monkeys that drop something from their backsides." (Prudence M. Rice and Katherine E. South. "Revisiting Monkeys on Pots: A Contextual Consideration of Primate Imagery on Classic Lowland Maya Pottery." Ancient America, Vol. 26 (2015), p. 286)

Provenance: ex-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, acquired prior to January 1, 2010

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#173327

Professional repair and restoration to walls, base, and monkeys, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Abrasions, nicks, fading to pigment, and softening to some incised details, with light earthen deposits, and a few areas of pitting. Nice preservation to overall presentation of monkeys.