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Female effigy rattle and whistle
Remojades
Late Classic period
A.D. 600–900
Object Place: Veracruz, México
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: dark red slip paint and asphalt (bitumen) paint
Dimensions
Overall: 21.6 x 13.3 x 6.7 cm (8 1/2 x 5 1/4 x 2 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Margret Craver Withers
Accession Number1993.746
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Sound devices
DescriptionStanding female effigy wearing a long skirt with geometric decoration in red slip paint. Her assymetrical head wrap also is decorated in a geometric pattern created by incised lines and red-painted stripes. Her jewelry includes a wide neckband and circular earflares. A swatch of asphalt (bitumen) paint is found on the left side of her face and may also have decorated the long flap-end of her head wrap (now eroded). A blow-hole at the back of her left arm is the whistle's mouthpiece, and her torso is filled with small pellets (likely of clay or stone) that create a rattling sound. The hole in the left side of her headwrap is the whistle's sound hole. A cylinder of clay attached to her rear supports the object in a standing position.
ProvenanceMargret Craver Withers collection (acquired in Mexico and Guatemala) by 1972; to MFA, November 1993, gift of Margret Craver Withers.