Terracotta monkey

Terracotta monkey

Description:

Monkeys and bears appear with some frequency in Cypriot terracottas. The representations suggest that the artists may even have observed them firsthand. It is not clear what the animal here is holding.


H. 3 11/16 in. (9.4 cm)

Period:

Archaic II

Date:

600 - 480 BC

Collection:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance:

References:

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. XXVII.221, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1895. The Terracottas and Pottery of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in Halls 4 and 15. no. 292, p. 26, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 2068, p. 342, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos. 1994. "Monkeys and Bears in Cypriote Art." Opuscula Atheniensia, 20: no. g, p. 64, fig. 8.Karageorghis, Vassos. 1996. "The Cypro-archaic period monsters, animals and miscellanea." The Coroplastic Art of Ancient Cyprus, Vol. 6. no. E.c.16, p. 19, pl. IX.9, Nicosia: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.Barnes, Lorna and Ellen Salzman. 1998. "Preliminary Investigations of Surface Decoration on a Group of Ancient Terracottas from Cyprus." Glass, Ceramics and Related Materials : ICOM Committee for Conservation Glass, Ceramics, and Related Materials Working Group, & Institute of Arts and Design Department of Conservation Studies, Alice B. Paterakis, ed. p. 81, Vantaa, Finland: EVTEK Institute of Art and Design, Dept. of Conservation Studies.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 257, p. 159, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 253, pp. 147, 260, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Accession Number:

74.51.1645