Featured FOUR WISE MONKEYS - IN IVORY!

Scored these four cheeky little fellas at the flea-market, and I think they're adorable!

They're 1.25 inches tall, and carved in ivory. The base is just stained wood.

I bought them from a guy who sells all kinds of antique and vintage Chinese stuff. He said he had these as part of his collection of quirky "three wise monkeys" tchotkes, and I just had to have them. I got a good discount, so I nabbed them!

The monkeys are in flawless, like-new condition, with no damage.

I'm not entirely sure how old they are, but they are definitely ivory.

 

So what is the 4th doing?

 

covering his genitals

 

Bingo!

They are, from L-R: "See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, and Do no Evil".

Covering eyes, ears, mouth, and balls, respectively.

 

That back-up monkey is taking the proverb to a whole new level..

 

I really don’t know too much but it all looks fairly ‘new’ to me. Are you very sure it’s ivory?

 

Extremely. I had it checked by two other dealers, and I've been handling ivory for years.

I know it looks extremely white in the photographs, and therefore, like bone, but it isn't. It's the over-exposure from the light.

 

Here is similar looking set.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hand-carve...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

 

I, too, question the ivory assessment. Based on the photos provided, it looks "faux" to me and fairly new, though possibly "vintage".
How about a few close-ups?

EDIT: I'd never seen a fourth monkey in these sets before and did some quick googling. It appears that the fourth monkey has nothing to do with the original Koshin belief and was most likely added by the souvenir industry. Do you have other info on this?

 

I had to pull all the monkeys off the base to re-seat them (they were falling off anyway) and the underside was definitely ivory, with the grain and everything. Unfortunately I didn't think to photograph any of them before remounting them and replacing the old glue.

As to what they are - I think they're a tourist piece made in the early 1900s, probably in somewhere like Hong Kong, or whatever.

There are versions with four, or even five monkeys, if you know where to find them. It's just that three is the most common.

 

More like mid 20th century plus to me. This is the type of carving that was driving extinction.

 

I once found a small ivory carving(also genuine ivory) with the same type of black base as yours Shangas. It had a very modern ‘Made in Hong Kong’ gold sticker on the bottom.

I did think maybe someone put it there as a joke, but i have since seen similar modern pieces. Looked like it might have even been 21st century.

 

As I said, I have no real clues as to the age. But I am certain that they are ivory. Bone is far too obvious to be mistaken, and it's not smooth enough to be plastic.

The only thing I know for sure is that this is some sort of tourist-piece, so it may not be as old as one might think, but as to narrowing down the date, I have no idea.

 

I saw some ivory carvings at auction once that were still in new retail packaging. Very modern packaging, like last 20 years if not last 10.

 

You can still buy modern ivory, so long as it's not poached ivory. There are ways of getting it legally. It just costs a buttload of money and paperwork.

 

I'd think those were a fairly recent novelty item, given the simplicity of the carving. That said... I can't find an antique set of these. Think they may all be vintage at best.

Debora