This outstanding greenstone vessel supported by an integrated sculpture of a monkey with human features comes from the country of Honduras. The piece is based upon a design with a long history in Central America, where caryatids and decorative elements were often incorporated into functional objects, intended for both religious/
ritual and secular purposes. The culture from which this piece came is open to question, owing to the highly dynamic and shifting mosaic of cultural groups at the time; there are comparable pieces in the Museum of Natural History in Mexico City. Honduran indigenous populations are exceptionally complex in terms of their cultural and biological affinities. In typological terms, the piece lies closest to the Aztecs, although their pre-eminence in the area came slightly later than the date of this piece. It is instead more likely to the result of cultural fusion between a localized group – represented anthropologically by the such as the Lenca, Xicaques, Miskitos, Payas, and the Ch'orti' – and influence from larger urbanized centres under distant societies such as the Maya, the Aztecs and the Toltecs (as well as Caribbean populations such as the Taino and their descendants). All of these, in turn, relied upon a shared Archaic period heritage, followed by the Olmec group which laid many of the foundation stones of what came after.
The piece is a beautifully-finished ground stone vessel that acts as the “body” of the anthropoid. It is designed in such a way that the monkey seems to be headless, the main drama being reserved for the human face that glowers from the stomach region. The rendering is exquisite, with the detail of the human face, the limbs and the ‘handle’ across the front of the vessel (gripped by the creature's hands) all created with smooth, even lines and flawless detailing. The features of the face resemble those of Teotihuacan and some Olmec stone masks/
heads, with a frowning frontal, a gaping mouth, squared ears and an aggressive expression. The hollow eyes are atypical for either of these two groups, however, and are but one of the stylistic elements that makes this piece unusual in terms of urbanized Central American arts. The stark formality of pieces by the aforementioned groups has also been replaced with a humorous element, for instance the curled tail of the monkey that wraps around the back of the vessel.
The role of this vessel is hard to ascertain without contextual evidence, but certain conclusions can be reached. It is necessary to assess the relative importance of polished stone in Mesoamerican society, what sort of investment it represents, then focus upon the form of the piece and the sort of function it might have served (using archaeological and ethnographic sources). Firstly, non-elite people never used stone vessels of this sort. All the stone vessels that used were purely utilitarian, and usually made of rougher stone than this. Additionally, they usually served specific purposes, such as mortars and pestles. Small household gods are also known, but these are comparatively crude creations. We can therefore assume that this piece was designed for an elite audience. Secondly, the amount of work it represents is truly astonishing. Without the use of iron tools, this piece represents literally thousands of hours of carving, grinding and polishing. Again, this sort of work cannot have been carried out to achieve an everyday secular item. The symbolism of the monkey is not simple to understand, but if we examine Aztec iconography and the calendrical system, it seems that the monkey was associated with ceremonial affairs and feasting, as well as being a point on the calendar, a day sign and a date sign. What, then, can possible have justified such an outlay of time and effort, with potent symbolic elements, in order to create a vessel? We shall never know for certain, but it is more than likely that the time-honoured tradition of blood-letting was in some way involved, as ornate containers are ethnographically recorded as being used to collect blood during ceremonial affairs (reflecting the monkey’s calendrical role), and these are usually made of stone. Other sanguineous ceremonies are also know, such as the Aztec tradition of removing the hearts of sacrificial victims and placing them in stone caryatids, or the mutilation and blood gathering (usually in gold vessels) carried out by the Moche. This, therefore, is a remarkable and rare example of an object that would have held seminal importance for the society from which it came, and is also a beautiful and significant piece of ancient art.