Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Tolima / Tairona culture, ca. 1250 to 1300 CE. A fine brownware pottery ocarina whistle in the shape of a woman figure with a burnished surface. The figures is highly stylized with bulging shoulders, arms bent at the sides, and hands placed to the abdomen, she is nude except for a necklace. The head forms the mouth hole and two tone holes are in the verso of the shoulders. Size: 4.5" L x 1.75" W x 4.5" H (11.4 cm x 4.4 cm x 11.4 cm)

The Tairona lived in circular house platforms with areas of the houses divided for labor by gender. Ceramic manufacture seems to have been the realm of the women in the household, and small burnishing stones used for smoothing the surface of pottery prior to firing have been found in their areas.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Schaumberg, Illinois, USA collection, 1990s

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#176518

Restoration to right shoulder and arm with new material, rest is intact. Ocarina does not function. Heavy manganese deposits throughout!