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Monkey fountain figure

Possibly Caspar Gras Austrian
ca. 1600
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 520
These two monkeys, intended to be fountain spouts, were modeled after close observation of captive macaques brought to Europe from North Africa or Gibraltar for display in a princely menagerie. The bronze monkeys were originally part of a scheme for a larger fountain that has since been lost but may have resembled glorious fountain designs recorded in Innsbruck, Danish Kronborg, and Prague. The sculptor, possibly Gras (whose mortar is on view across the gallery), made a single terracotta piece from which two wax intermediary models were cast. Each was subtly individualized—for example through facial features—and cast in bronze.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Monkey fountain figure
  • Artist: Possibly Caspar Gras (Austrian, Bad Mergentheim, near Würzburg 1585–1674 Schwaz, near Innsbruck)
  • Date: ca. 1600
  • Culture: Austrian
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: confirmed: 13 1/8 × 7 11/16 × 10 1/8 in., 26.7 lb. (33.3 × 19.5 × 25.7 cm, 12.1 kg)
    Mount: 8 lb. (3.6 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Acquisitions Fund, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.375
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Monkey, Caspar Gras Austrian, Bronze, Austrian
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Possibly Caspar Gras - Monkey fountain figure - Austrian - The Metropolitan Museum of Art