Masked Figurine Holding a Drum, Possibly an Ocarina (Whistle)
Tairona
1200–1400
- Medium
- Ceramic and pigment
- Dimensions
- H.: 12.7 cm (5 in.)
- Genre
- sculpture
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
firing (heating)whistleamericaslower central americamodeling (forming)painting (coating)earthenwaretaironaminiatureceramicsmaskspeoplecostumed performersculpturefigurinesmusical instrumentinorganic materialritual performermusical instrumentsArts of the Americasceramicpigmentmusiciansart of the americas
About
To this day in Tairona communities, masked individuals dance, personifying the deified forces and phenomena of nature. This act associates the annual round of social and economic activities with the natural world’s cycle of death, fertility, and renewal.
