Monkey-Man Figure

ClassificationsSculpture

Artist Jimmy Mtoched

Datemid 20th Century

Made AtPalau

Collection SitePalau

MediumWood and shell

Dimensions8 3/4 × 5 1/8 × 4 3/4 in. (22.2 × 13 × 12.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Frieda O. Wray from the Estate of Dr. & Mrs. Douglas and Carolyn Osborne

Object number2019.17.25

DescriptionThis is a Palauan monkey-man figure made by Jimmy Mtoched, an apprentice woodcarver, in 1969. According to researchers, earlier examples of these types of wooden statues were first produced on Tobi Island in the western Caroline Islands. Trade networks allowed for other similar squatting figures to appear in other areas of Oceania. Monkey-men figures were originally carved as tokens for the deceased and used as house or ancestral shrines for the spirit of the dead. Although similar statues of this design are no longer significant as ancestral shrines, they have gained monetary value to carvers as items of barter. According to the donor, Jimmy Mtoched was a student of a well-known carver named John Paul. Mtoched often visited the donor bringing carved creations designed or started by Paul. Eventually Mtoched started to sell his own carved work and served as a consistent wood carving source for the donor.

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