Harvard Art Museums

Zoomorphic flute or whistle

Medium

Terracotta

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Institution

Harvard Art Museums

Almost complete flute or whistle; missing right ear. Simple flute in the form of a quadruped. Small round head with short, perked-up ears, large round eyes made of clay pallets, and a long, pointy snout. Smooth, ovoid body, with four stumpy legs. The tail protrudes away from the body in a line with the animal’s spine; disproportionately large, especially when compared to the small head, it functions as the mouthpiece. In addition to the hole at the mouthpiece, this flute has a thumb hole under the tail, and a smaller finger hole at the chest, above the right foreleg. Should produce at least two distinct notes. Washed-out white ground, with red and black abstract cross-hatched decoration. If not abstract, design could be a stylized saddle with two bags hanging on either side. Mostly hollow. Mold-made head and body; handmade legs and tail.

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