Thursday, February 4, 2016

Happy Monkey Year 2016!


Chinese New Year for 2016, which is a Monkey Year, starts this Monday, February 8th.  Monkeys in Chinese culture, as in Western culture, symbolize playfulness and mischief, and as such are found depicted in great variety, and in every branch of Chinese art. 

Monkeys can appear as natural animals or in the person of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King or Monkey God, from the classic story Journey to the West. In this story, one of Sun Wukong’s many adventures involves his stealing the Peaches of Immortality, when he was excluded from a feast of the gods. Even the naturalistic monkeys are usually depicted as holding, proffering, or reaching for a peach.

Is he offering you this Peach of Longevity, or keeping it for himself?
The above silver pendant shows a monkey among the peach branches, well-pleased with himself for taking one of the peaches. At the bottom are four holes for suspending small bells, or perhaps for the tools of a chatelaine. I especially like this piece of jewelry because of the balance of the design, and also the perfect toning of the silver. The airy openness of this pendant, which I gave to my sister, recalls some of the openwork jewelry from ancient Egypt. 
The back of the pendant—note the location of the unreadable hallmarks.


 
Above is a rather elaborate representation of the Monkey God, almost entirely covered in gold leaf, wearing a very detailed coat and sporting his characteristic salute. (In the recent post on the toddler statue, I mentioned the simplicity of his garment. The Monkey God’s outfit, on the other hand, is more intricate than is usual.) The octagonal base is interesting as well, with its plain top and plinth sandwiching a band of yet more detailed, gilded carving. 

 
The back of this statue features the tiger-skin skirt of his costume, but is more notable for the cautionary tale it tells. Those white dots are not original, but are the result of storing this in bubble-wrap, which has interacted with the painted surface. Bubble wrap is not a safe material in which to wrap antiques, especially those with a painted or otherwise delicate surface. Much better is to wrap the object with tissue paper first, preferably acid-free, then adding bubble-wrap if more padding is needed.

The following rather surreal furniture panel certainly plays with the sense of scale, showing either a very large monkey, or very small buildings. This monkey is hardly natural—besides the odd proportions, the artist employed a common convention to show fur, but which resembles eyelashes! In addition, he is reaching for some peaches still growing on the tree at the far left, to which our eye is led by his extended arm, so this may represent the banquet scene mentioned above from Journey to the West.

 
Among the more unusual handicrafts to be found in traditional Taiwan street fairs are leather animals, ranging from miniatures to full-sized horses. Almost every kind of animal can be found. The following pair of leather monkeys are rather old, gauging from their general appearance, and the fact that the eyes are of glass. With their menacing looks and present state of gentle decay, they seem more suitable to celebrate Halloween than New Year. With those sharp teeth and wiry fingers, I can't imagine that these looked too friendly even when new, and wonder why the original owner acquired them.



The above octagonal wooden bowl may be recalled from Goat Year's post last year, when the opposite panel was highlighted. The monkey carved on this side still has traces of gilding, and is surrounded by characters representing luck.


The last photo shows two of the ubiquitous Chinese cookie or cake molds, in the shape of monkeys holding peaches. The hatching of the fur, although still schematic, looks more natural here. While the poses at first seem similar, one of the monkeys is seated, and the other is striding, apparently wearing curled-toed shoes, no less.

Let me know if you have a favorite among these different monkeys. I hope that Monkey Year will arrive bringing a generous measure of the monkey’s playfulness and humor, as well as the longevity, health and abundance promised by his peaches. Happy Monkey Year!



(All photos and original objects, except as noted, property of the author.)

21 comments:

  1. Well, what a generous brother you are! I particularly enjoyed viewing your pendant, for it looks to be both playful in imagery and skillfully made. At first I thought it was one half of a belt buckle.

    You always have the most interesting collections of things and I truly enjoyed each of the objects you highlight in this post.

    Your cautionary tale of bubble wrap has been well heeded. I always use tissue paper before enveloping an item in bubble wrap for the reasons you state. Did you know that rubber bands are also detrimental to silver and leave it badly marred?

    Happy Monkey year to you! Memories of a favorite Japanese television show just popped into my head (Monkey - screened in the early 1980's as I recall).

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    1. Hello CD, Thank you for your kind words. My sister and I have the best continual gift exchange; it's a lot of fun because we have the same taste in things.

      Rubber bands are evil in general for long-term storage. Even when around old envelopes, boxes, etc., the rubber breaks down and creates a sticky mess ruining whatever it once held together.

      I looked up that television show Monkey in Wikipedia, and it is the same story of the Monkey King. Some of the episodes are on Youtube, so I'll have to watch them when I get then chance. --Jim

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  2. They are all wonderful--and such an interesting variety. I always learn something from your posts, and your attention to detail is inspiring. My favorite is probably the pendant--I love the idea of tiny bells hanging from it.

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    1. Hello Jennifer, I'm glad that you like these. When collecting, it's the details that make a piece special, and of course your artist's eye tells you the same thing. --Jim

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    2. I just heard about the earthquake and am thinking about you.

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    3. I appreciate your concern. That earthquake was centered in southern Taiwan, while Taipei is at the northern end. I did feel a prolonged earthquake in the middle of the night, but it was not very strong here. I read the accounts of rescuing people from the collapsed buildings in Tainan, and it is just lucky that it was no worse. --Jim

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    4. I thought you were in Taipei, but wasn't sure. Glad all is well with you.

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  3. Happy New Year! The top object, the silver pendant, meets all my criteria for judging decorative art:
    1. Made of silver (although gold would be fine as well)
    2. Form really does follow function; good looks by themselves would not have been enough.
    3. The symbolism is clear, important for me because I don't always locate more obscure symbols.

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    1. Hello Hels, Your criteria are quite useful for evaluation (although I sure the first one actually reads something like "appropriate material." As for the third one, the basic symbolism is clear, but I wouldn't put it past the designer to have included multiple layers--for example, the whole composition may form a rebus linked to some famous Chinese expression. An example of this is the monkey-and-horse inkstone from Horse Year, which can imply wishes for a fast promotion. --Jim

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  4. What a wide array of samples, and a fitting backdrop to your post, from which as always, I learn a great deal. I think the silver pendant is my favourite from this display - very elegant and suitably playful. The rings at the bottom suggest that perhaps something else hung from it.

    I imagine you will be staying put in Taiwan, as we often did when we lived in Hong Kong over Chinese New Year. Too much hassle trying to travel when everyone else has the same idea - exemplified painfully by those thousands stranded at the station in Guaungzhou. And as long as you're well stocked up, it's a rather good time to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet, unless firecrackers are permitted; here they rat-a-tat-tat first thing on new year's day morning.

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    1. Hello Columnist, I suppose that "jewelry element" would have been the best title for that object, but the description seems so dry. The Chinese used different types of pendants--around the neck, and hanging from the belt were the most common. One can only be certain when one finds an example intact, and even then the same casting might have been used for different purposes.

      I have no special plans for New Year--the period of rest and closed businesses seems to grow shorter each year. Firecrackers have been banned here, although there are always a few die-hards who set them off anyway. I hope that you enjoy the holiday despite the noise; as indicated in your recent post, Thailand has a definite flair for celebrating these occasions. --Jim

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  5. I adore monkeys so it was hard to choose but I think I'd take the bowl.

    Wishing you a happy year of the monkey but also all is safe where you are as I just saw the news?

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    1. Hello CSW, We felt the earthquake in northern Taiwan, but the main damage was in the South; the cold snap a couple of weeks ago had more serious consequences in the Taipei area.

      You made a good choice with that bowl--small but fascinating, with just the right amount of patina, it really deserves a post on its own. --Jim

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  6. Dearest Jim,
    Happy Monkey Year 2016 to you!
    Well, those are all very special looking and I love the symbol of the Peach of Immortality very much.
    My favorite is the statue with the bubble wrap imprint! Loved your mention for added padding you better use acid free tissue paper first. But overall, that is the most detailed and also accurate work.
    Indeed, fur resembling eye lashes being strewn all over the body.
    The cookie molds are also unique and thinking about the simple tools they used for creating all these pieces we can't but admire them all!
    Wishing you a good week ahead. We have cloudy weather and will get some more night frost this week. Spring is not yet here...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Hello Mariette, I glad you like the monkey god statue. The bubble wrap marks on the skirt almost look like they were intended to be that way! However, I have some other pieces in which the bubble wrap softened the paint and then left depressions in it, without that odd-looking white deposit, so the damage is permanent, even if not traumatic.

      They still make similar wooden molds, although not with such a variety of patterns as formerly, and usually not as intricate. It seems to be almost a truism that the more simple the tools, the better the resulting art. One day I'll have to gather all my cookie molds together and do a post on them.

      Chinese New year is also called the "Spring Holiday" in Chinese. I hope that bad weather in the South is all over, and spring will be arriving pretty soon. --Jim

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  7. People really don't understand what things like bubblewrap and rubberbands to do paints, metals, etc. KILLS me!

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    1. Hello Meg, You are absolutely right. It is very disappointing to find some beautiful or rare object and find that it is been ruined by improper wrapping in these kinds of materials. This is especially true for things places in longer-term storage. --Jim

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  8. Hello Jim - I am sorry to be late to your post but there is still time for me to wish you a Happy Monkey 2016 Year to you.
    My favourite monkey has to be the delightful silver pendant you gave to your sister, she must have been delighted to receive it.
    I like to think that as the monkey is holding the peach over his heart that he is offering to share his Peach of Longevity.
    The naturalistic foliage and branches remind me of the Art Nouveau period.

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    1. Hello Rosemary, Chinese New Year is not just one day, but a period lasting until Lantern Festival, which this year is February 22, so your greetings are in plenty of time!

      You are right, the sinuous composition does look like Art Nouveau. That would be a good clue when investigating the age of this piece. Chinese are has lots of wooded scenes, but the balance of the composition, and the twisting of the tree are very appealing here. --Jim

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    1. Thank you, and I hope that you have a good year also! --Jim

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