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

Status:

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

Culture:

Mexico, Veracruz, probably Isla de los Sacrificios

Period:

Early to Late Postclassic

Classification:

Musical Instruments

Provenance:

Florence Quittenton Olsen (died 1996) and Frederick H. Olsen (1891–1986), Guilford, Conn., by 1959; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1959

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.