The Descent of Man #2
But which way is up?
The foreground object is an ashtray with a monkey and skull. It belonged to my grandfather and came from Vienna to Melbourne with him, my grandmother, and my mother. I have known it all my life.
The monkey is brass, the skull likely to be ivory, and the hefty ashtray itself appears to be porphyry. There is a lot of detailed work in the components, but I cannot judge its truthfulnesses, to life or death. The skull in particular looks very realistic, with fine cranial sutures on top. However, although the simian has a tail, it’s facial features look more ape than monkey to me.
I was told that the arrangement was a comment on Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I presume the monkey is pondering what went wrong.
The addition here is a lifelike bronze elephant made in Thailand, acquired more recently, but now around two decades old.
I thought the elephant, an even higher animal, would have its own thoughts -- on both ivory and human evolution...
The Descent of Man #2
But which way is up?
The foreground object is an ashtray with a monkey and skull. It belonged to my grandfather and came from Vienna to Melbourne with him, my grandmother, and my mother. I have known it all my life.
The monkey is brass, the skull likely to be ivory, and the hefty ashtray itself appears to be porphyry. There is a lot of detailed work in the components, but I cannot judge its truthfulnesses, to life or death. The skull in particular looks very realistic, with fine cranial sutures on top. However, although the simian has a tail, it’s facial features look more ape than monkey to me.
I was told that the arrangement was a comment on Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I presume the monkey is pondering what went wrong.
The addition here is a lifelike bronze elephant made in Thailand, acquired more recently, but now around two decades old.
I thought the elephant, an even higher animal, would have its own thoughts -- on both ivory and human evolution...