Date Made
Cast circa 1850; original believed to be pre-Columbian |
Description
Technical description: Plaster-cast of exterior only, so no holes formed and thus unplayable. Broken into two pieces.
Overall size: 136 x 158mm.
Decorative features: Incised geometrical patterns in a band across the body.
Specific literature references: Traill 1850; Engel 1872, item 402; Hipkins 1885, p.51.
Specific usage history: According to Engel (1872), 'The instrument from which the cast has been taken was discovered placed over a corpse in a Peruvian tomb, and was procured by the French General Paroissien. It is made of a greenish stone, which is a species of talc. Four of its tubes have small lateral finger holes, which, when closed, lower the pitch a semitone. The Inca Peruvians called the syrinx (or Pandean pipe) huayra puhura. The British Museum possesses a huayra puhura, consisting of fourteen reeds. These ancient Pandean pipes are very interesting, since they exhibit the peculiar order of musical intervals used by the American aborigines before their musical conceptions were in any way influenced by European civilization.' |
Other Information
Specific usage history: According to Engel (1872), `The instrument from which the cast has been taken was discovered placed over a corpse in a Peruvian tomb, and was procured by the French General Paroissien. It is made of a greenish stone, which is a species of talc. Four of its tubes have small lateral finger-holes, which, when closed, lower the pitch a semitone. The Inca Peruvians called the syrinx (or Pandean pipe) huayra-puhura. The British Museum possesses a huayra-puhura, consisting of fourteen reeds. These ancient Pandean pipes are very interesting, since they exhibit the peculiar order of musical intervals used by the American aborigines before their musical conceptions were in any way influenced by European civilization.' |
Measurements
136 x 158. |
Collection
Reid Collection ; MIMEd |
Accession Number
0387 |