Whistle in the Form of a Monkey
Arts of the Americas
On View: Lobby annex, 1st floor
The Maya blue pigment on these figurines is still vibrant after fifteen hundred years. The two male figures represent members of the Maya royal court, as indicated by their elaborate garments and ornaments. The warrior wears a shell necklace, towering helmet-headdress and ear-spools; the nobleman wears a wide collar with long flaps, and a detachable bird-shaped headdress with feathered plumes. The whistle in the form of a composite monkey-human figure, or a man wearing a monkey mask, may refer to the patron god of artists, given the ability of monkeys to imitate what they see, as artists do.
MEDIUM
Ceramic, pigment
DATES
600-900
DIMENSIONS
5 x 2 x 1 1/2 in. (12.7 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
2009.2.21
CREDIT LINE
Gift in memory of Frederic Zeller
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
CAPTION
Maya. Whistle in the Form of a Monkey, 600-900. Ceramic, pigment, 5 x 2 x 1 1/2 in. (12.7 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift in memory of Frederic Zeller, 2009.2.21. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2009.2.21_overall_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2009.2.21_overall_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Hollow whistle figurine (Jaina style) in the form of a standing anthropomorphic monkey or a man wearing a monkey mask. The figure holds something in his right hand (possibly a piece of cloth). There is blue pigment on the top of the head, breast, and armbands.
Condition: good
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.