Ocarina
Although numerous types of instruments survive from pre-conquest South and Central America, little is known of how they were used. Whistles, trumpets, and rattles in animal or human form probably had ceremonial functions or served as playthings. Smaller whistles in animal shapes, perhaps worn suspended from the neck, frequently have fingerholes that allow variation of pitch.
Flutes and bells are all that remain of many musical traditions of the Tairona people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region, Colombia. The importance of these metal, terracotta, and blackware instruments is evident in their carefully detailed incising and punctuation. The symbolic meanings of the effigies are obscure, and the relationship between the forms and their musical functions is unclear. It is believed that musical effigies served as talismans and were played to link the mortal and immortal realms.
Description: Ceramic blackware crescent-shaped vessel flute with central male figure forming mouthpiece; figure stands in front of crescent with hands on hips and tongue projecting from mouth; decorated with white filled incising and punctuation; suspension holes at mouthpiece. (J. Kenneth Moore, 1986)
Flutes and bells are all that remain of many musical traditions of the Tairona people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region, Colombia. The importance of these metal, terracotta, and blackware instruments is evident in their carefully detailed incising and punctuation. The symbolic meanings of the effigies are obscure, and the relationship between the forms and their musical functions is unclear. It is believed that musical effigies served as talismans and were played to link the mortal and immortal realms.
Description: Ceramic blackware crescent-shaped vessel flute with central male figure forming mouthpiece; figure stands in front of crescent with hands on hips and tongue projecting from mouth; decorated with white filled incising and punctuation; suspension holes at mouthpiece. (J. Kenneth Moore, 1986)
Artwork Details
- Title: Ocarina
- Period: Pre-Columbian
- Date: 1300–1500
- Geography: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
- Culture: Tairona People; Gayraca style
- Medium: Ceramic
- Dimensions: L. 7.1 cm (2-7/16 in.); W. 6.9 cm (2-11/16 in.)
- Classification: Aerophone-Whistle Flute-vessel flute
- Credit Line: Gift of Roberta Lee Boxer, 1984
- Object Number: 1984.507.16
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments
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