Since college, when we had to read “Journey to the West” for our Chinese literature class and read about Sun Wukong (the “Monkey King), I’ve been interested in the character, the depictions of Sun Wukong in art, books, film and video games.
And as a lot of sculptures tend to feature Sun Wukong as a fierce warrior, Design Toscano’s Monkey Mantra Zen Animal Statue is a more peaceful, calmer version inspired by The Monkey King.
While I debated on this sculpture because of its almost Disney look, facial characteristics of the character, I do like the calmness of the sculpt and it does make a rather peaceful statue to have in the yard but also one that may freak out some pests (and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people may have that first look and be freaked out by it). It is no doubt different but right now, I have it facing out from my vegetable garden and greeting those who enter the area.
I like the sculpt because it looks like it was carved out of wood. So, the type of resin used for this statue was a good selection. I like the larger size and it’s not heavy to lift.
The statue does come with the standard Design Toscano information about weather and how to take care of the statue.
But it’s a fascinating, yet different statue to have in my back yard area. But I wouldn’t mind seeing a more fierce warrior type Monkey King statue from Design Toscano, but overall, I dig the statue.
