1973.66 Bowl: Anthropomorphic Monkey Effigy (Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico, Zapotec)

In the Valley of Oaxaca, Zapotec inhabitants of the hilltop site of Monte Albán and the surrounding areas produced fine grayware ceramic hollow figurines and bridge-spout vessels that depict images of various deities and ancestors, elaborately decorated in relief worked onto the surface of the vessel. In this example, the head, arms, and legs were worked in relief on the surface, and the body of the figure forms the body of the vessel. The figure may represent either a captive monkey dressed as a human, or a man impersonating a monkey. Though their specific meaning is unknown, monkey effigies occur frequently throughout Mesoamerica, often appearing in creation mythology. In a story from the Popol Vuh, the Quiché (K’iche’) Maya book of counsel, the mischevious One Monkey and One Artisan were turned into monkeys by their half-brothers, the Hero Twins. They became the gods of music, literature, and the visual arts and are associated with the planet Mars. The names One Monkey and One Artisan also refer to a single day on the 260-day ritual calendar, Chuen (day of the craftsman or monkey), the day on which the planet Mars becomes visible in the sky. In addition, the 260-day ritual calendars of the Zapotecs, Mixtecs, and Aztecs identify the eleventh of the twenty day names with the monkey: Loo or Goloo in Zapotec, Nuy in Mixtec, and Ozomatli in Aztec.

Monkeys were usually associated with creativity and the arts, as well as pleasure and lascivious behavior. Here, the anthropomorphic monkey reclines blissfully, enveloping the bowl, and displaying his emphasized genitals. Monkeys were imported, perhaps from the Maya area, and kept as pets by both Zapotec and Aztec nobility. This figure wears a bell necklace, and his ears are pierced for ornaments that may have originally been attached to the vessel. The associations of celestial deity and patron of the arts suggest this handsomely modeled vessel was made for ritual use in a temple or shrine during ceremonies marking the reappearance of Mars in the night sky, though it may have also held other libations for fertility rites. Another possibility is that it was an offering in the tomb of a royal person born on the day of the Monkey (Loo). This example stands out in quality compared to the numerous Zapotec vessels in zoomorphic form.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Zapotec (culture or style): AAT: 300017179

Monte Albán (Oaxacan periods and styles): AAT: 300017172

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Oaxaca (state): TGN: 7005591

Oaxaca Valley: TGN: 7383926

Monte Albán (deserted settlement): TGN: 7007152

Zapotec (Monte Albán) Ceramics 

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

stucco: AAT: 300014966

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

clay: AAT: 300010439

glazing (coating): AAT: 300053914

incising: AAT: 300053847

burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

slab method (pottery technique): AAT: 300053905

relief (sculpture techniques): AAT: 300053622

hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023

Monte Albán I (Oaxacan periods and styles): AAT: 300017173

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

bowls (vessels): AAT: 300203596

ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801

effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

monkeys (animals): AAT: 300250028

captive (prisoners of war): AAT: 300259895

anthropomorphic: AAT: 300010335

human figures: AAT: 300404114

impersonation (impersonators / concepts / people): DMA

reclining: AAT: 300380165

head: AAT: 300262520

hands (animal or human components): AAT: 300310193

legs (animal or human components): AAT: 300310192

feet (animal components): AAT: 300310200

necklaces: AAT: 300046001

bells (idiophones): AAT: 300041872

ear ornaments: AAT: 300211279

creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002

myth: AAT: 300201023

mythology (literary genre): AAT: 300055985

mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725

Hero Twins (Hunahpu and Xbalanque / Maya creation deities): DMA

music (discipline): AAT: 300054146

literature (humanities): AAT: 300054273

planets: AAT: 300263109

cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294

calendars: AAT: 300026741

trade (function): AAT: 300061886

ritual (events): AAT: 300065284

Temples: AAT: 300007595

Shrines: AAT: 300007558

offering (tribute / payment / economic concepts /social science concepts): DMA

worship: AAT: 300056005

fertility: AAT: 300379149

burials: AAT: 300263485

tombs: AAT: 300005926

royalty (nobility): AAT: 300188750

nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

deities: AAT: 300343850

ancestors: AAT: 300255718

zoomorphic: AAT: 300010338

hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023

gesture: AAT: 300056179

Zapotec (language): AAT: 300389625

n.d: Dr. and Sra. Josué Sáenz, Mexico, D.F. [1], [2]

Until 1973: Edward H. Merrin Gallery, Inc. [1], [2], [3]

From 1973: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott, the McDermott Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3], [4]

[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is Collections Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Worksheet (dated March 13, 1973, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

Apply to objects where number equals 1973.66