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Art of the Ancient Americas
Artist: Unknown
Flute with the Head of a Deity
A.D. 900–1519
Ceramic with pigment
3.4 × 2.4 × 17.2 cm (1 5/16 × 15/16 × 6 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Olsen
1959.55.25
Geography:
Veracruz, Mexico
Culture:
Mexico, Veracruz, probably Isla de los Sacrificios
Period:
Early to Late Postclassic
Classification:
Musical Instruments
Provenance:
Fred H. Olsen (1891–1986), and Florence Quittenton Olsen, Guilford, Conn.; gift in 1959 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography:
Maryan Ainsworth, “A Flute in the Olsen Collection: Its Place in Pre-Columbian Music and Art,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 35, no. 2 (Spring 1975): 26–27, fig. 3.
George A. Kubler, ed., Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1986), 78–80, 247, no. 126, fig. 72.
Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
