Bowl with Monkey Motif
Artist:
Unknown
Place made:Guatemala
General region:North and Central America
Place made:Guatemala
General region:North and Central America
Culture: Maya
Culture: Maya
Period: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Earthenware
Dimensions:
h. 3 15/16 in. (10 cm); diam. 6 11/16 in. (17 cm)
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: 72.42.10
Provenance: by purchase by Witte Museum Shop, San Antonio, TX, 1972; by transfer to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1994
Label Text
The monkeys incised on this vessel may be depictions of spider monkeys. Each holds a shell in their hands, perhaps as on offering or as a symbol of the watery underworld. In the Popol Vuh, the book of the Maya creation, two principal actors are turned into monkeys and were subsequently viewed as patrons of the performing and visual arts. (Bernadette Cap, 2021)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
