Two Miniature Tairona Pottery Whistles - Bird & Jaguar

Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Tairona. Two intact pottery whistles, each modeled as a small animal in the round. The first stands upright on two splayed legs. Its arms are rolled from coils of clay and wrap across the body. The face, probably meant as a jaguar, is open with round perforations that read as eyes and nostrils and likely served as sound or tuning holes. The second is a squat bird on stubby feet, with a globular body and a short neck ending in a small head with pellet eyes. Its darker, smoothed surface carries finely incised bands and hatching, and a single small stop hole pierces the side. Pocket-sized aerophones like these were probably played in ritual and festive settings. Animal forms suited them well, perhaps calling to mind the voices of the creatures they depict. Item # 205206

Estimate:$400

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