Three Wise Brass Monkeys

and

Four Brass Wise Monkeys

Brassware featuring the three (or four) Wise Monkeys

Read their history on this page, see the 

Brass Monkeys  on the next three pages.

This is not a sign of old age –  just a pragmatic way of fettling the casting. 

Only the very best models will have had their hair scribed back in to place by craftsmen. 

The general rule used to be that, the better detailed the monkeys are, the older is the product, even though some detail may be lost over the years through enthusiastic polishing.  Now there are better casting techniques available that give much better detail in most modern versions.

The smaller models are frequently solid, larger ones are cast hollow.

It is very rare for makers’ marks to be evident. 

Amongst many variations, some recent productions have a fourth monkey in the group.  This one is called ‘Do no evil’ and is reported to have been used in support of AIDS awareness campaigns.

The classic Japanese depiction Buddhist Tendai uses their macaque monkey, also called the Japanese Snow Monkey as the model for their three wise monkeys.  Modern representations may be more free-lance.

Beware modern highly-detailed monkeys that look too good.  They may be zinc diecastings that have been plated and patinated to look like brass or bronze. 

The inspiration for most monkey groups comes from a carving above the portico of a 17th century temple in Japan called the Nikko Toshogu Shrine which includes a carving of the three wise guardian monkeys in a representation of a sacred stable.  In Japanese 'don't see, don't hear and don't speak' (loosely known as 'see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil') is translated as 'mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru'.  The word for monkey 'saru' sounds the same as the verb-ending 'zaru' (which means 'not') so the origin of these famous monkeys may be a Japanese play on words. 

(As additional information, ‘I see nothing, I hear nothing and I say nothing’ are, in Japanese:  ‘mimai, kikumai and hanasumai’)

(Ack.: Emil Schuttenhelm)

(The symbol of the three monkeys forms part of a "folk belief/practice" in Japan called "koshin". In the night of  "koshin"people congregated and stayed awake until dawn. They were praying to a god called Shuomen Kongo, a fearsome creature with usually six arms, similar to the deity Vadjra known from Indian Buddhism. By staying awake people hoped to avoid that their bad deeds were reported to the heavenly god. The three monkeys usually can be seen on paper scrolls that were used in the ceremony, whereby the role of the monkeys is to be understood as messengers (both ways). But some temples also show 3-monkey statues and in rural areas in Japan many "koshin" stones (koshin-do) still can be found . The first record referring to the koshin belief is by a celebrated Japanese priest called Ennin, also named Jikasu-daishi. He visited China (Tang Dynasty) and witnessed "koshin" practice there on November 26, 838. He wrote that he observed a practice similar to that of Japan.

Ack: Emil Schuttenhelm)

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