1973.43 Monkey head (Oaxaca, Mexico, Mixtec)

Mixtec artisans excelled at lapidary work and were famous for their extraordinarily refined miniature carvings made in a variety of materials, creating objects of virtually perfect design and workmanship. Smaller decorative ornaments were part of the larger elaborate costume accoutrements for nobility—often worn on the face, forehead, and chest—and projected both elite status and supernatural power.   

This greenstone head depicts a monkey with deeply set, penetrating eyes. The monkey wears spiral earspools, similar to those shown on pet monkeys of nobility illustrated in both Aztec and Maya art. Concentric circles outline the eyes while smaller circles indicate teeth, which were drilled into the stone with hollow tubes of bone or metal. The two holes drilled at the upper back of the carving suggest it might have originally been worn as a pendant or tied onto a necklace or other type of ornamentation.

Though their specific meaning is unknown, monkey effigies occur frequently throughout Mesoamerica, often appearing in creation mythology. The 260-day ritual calendars of the Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Aztecs identify the eleventh of the twenty day names with the monkey: Nuy in Mixtec, Loo or Goloo in Zapotec, and Ozomatli in Aztec. In Aztec mythology, the Second Sun (4 Ehecatl) ruled by the feathered serpent deity (Quetzalcoatl) was destroyed by hurricanes, after which the human population was transformed into monkeys. Monkeys were usually associated with creativity and the arts, as well as pleasure and lascivious behavior. 

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Mixtec: AAT: 300017180

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Oaxaca (state/Mexico): TGN: 7005591

Oaxaca de Juárez (inhabited place): TGN: 7007117

greenstone (rock): AAT: 300386691

stone: AAT: 300011176

carving: AAT: 300053149

incising: AAT: 300053847

polishing (finishing): AAT: 300053867

drillwork (sculpture technique): AAT: 300186211

Postclassic (Mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016987

worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274

jewelry: AAT: 300209286

pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002

beads (pierced objects): AAT: 300234006

necklaces: AAT: 300046001

green (color): AAT: 300128438

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

head: AAT: 300262520

faces (animal or human components): AAT: 300251798

face: DMA

monkeys (animals): AAT: 300250028

eyes (animal or human components): AAT: 300400484

earspools: AAT: 300209300

spirals (geometric figures): AAT: 300163114

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

concentric: AAT: 300010274

teeth (animal components): AAT: 300400467

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

power: AAT: 300374809

social status: AAT: 300065206

nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942

effigies (funerary sculpture): AAT: 300047108

calendars: AAT: 300026741

myth: AAT: 300201023

mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725

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 1973.43