161 - A PRE-COLUMBIAN BLACK CERAMIC ‘JAGUAR-HEADED FIGURE’ OCARINA, TAIRONA PEOPLE

A PRE-COLUMBIAN BLACK CERAMIC ‘JAGUAR-HEADED FIGURE’ OCARINA, TAIRONA PEOPLE Published & Exhibited: Josef Mairitsch, Columbus am Wörthersee: Amerika vor Columbus, Klagenfurt, 1 June-31 October 1992, p. 99. Colombia, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 14th-15th century. Boldly modeled as a crescent-shaped, edge-blown vessel flute, open at both ends and pierced with two fingerholes. Seated upon it is a stylized male anthropomorphic figure with exposed genitalia, his hands resting on his knees and his upright torso rising to a large, stylized feline head framed by an imposing crescent-shaped headdress finely decorated with incised motifs. Provenance: Collection of Prof. Josef Mairitsch, Austria, acquired between 1960 and the early 1980s, thence by descent. With an old collector’s label bearing the inventory no. ‘M 161’ affixed to the underside. A copy of the inventory list, including item no. 161, together with the handwritten notes of Josef Mairitsch concerning the present piece, accompanies the lot. Josef Mairitsch (1938-1994) was a Carinthian scholar whose private collection encompassed over 200 objects of Pre-Columbian, Iranian, Roman, Greek and other origins, significantly contributing to Austria’s holdings in ancient art. His collection was already widely published in catalogues and the press from the 1970s, especially its Pre-Columbian section. Condition: Good condition with expected wear, firing irregularities, traces of weathering, signs of prolonged burial, encrustations, minuscule chips, and light surface scratches. Weight: 98.4 g (excl. stand), 121.8 g (incl. stand) Dimensions: Height 8.5 cm (excl. stand), 9.7 cm (incl. stand) With an associated wood and metal stand. (2) 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. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Tairona ceramic ocarina, dated 1300-1500, 7 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1984.507.10. Compare a closely related Tairona ceramic grayware ocarina, dated 1000-1550, 11.4 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 48.2845. Compare a closely related Tairona ceramic whistle, dated c. 1300, 4.5 cm high, in the Art Institute of Chicago, accession number 1986.1083.