Post Medieval Three Wise Monkeys Bronze Statuette

Description

Material: Cast bronze

Period: Post medieval

Date: Unknown

Origin: Indo-Gangetic

Condition: A ground find with age patination.

Description: Three Wise Monkeys statuette in bronze; unusually they are covering each others ears. eyes and mouth instead of their own.

Size and Weight: 85mm wide. 370g

Features and Provenance: From European collections. 

The Buddhist teachings of ‘if we do not see. hear or speak evil. we ourselves shall be spared from evil’ was know from as early as the 8th century. The Three Wise Monkeys were displayed on the grand Tosho-gu Shrine in Japan when it was built in 1617. The use of macaques was probably a play on words as the Japanese phrase ‘mizaru. kikazaru. iwazaru (see not. hear not. speak not) contains the fragment zaru that can be also translated to monkey. Their popularity increased with the production of statuettes and talisman; they were even carried by soldiers in the First World War as good luck charms. Sadly. the original sentiment of prudence and purity has now been degraded to mean someone that ignores a wrongdoing. but maybe the fact that our monkeys are covering the respective feature of another adds an additional nuance .

It is also worth pointing out that this reads right to left. The original Kharosthi script used to write down the teachings of Buddha is read from right to left as are the Gandhara scrolls

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn

Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible