Columbia
Pre-Columbian Culture

Pottery with polychrome coloring
Pre-Columbian – 850-1250 AD
Height: 5.625 in 
Aerophones – Wind Instruments Proper – Edge Blown Flutes

A large pre-Columbian ocarina from the Nariño culture in Columbia.  This hand-made pottery ocarina with polychrome coloring in tan and red, is in the form of a seashell, bearing incised geometric designs and a molded monkey on the top. There is a large blowhole on the upper side of the globular section. A thumbhole in the back and two smaller fingerholes on the lower part of the vessel allow it to produce four tones.  

Little is known as to the function of these pre-Columbian ocarinas, whistles, trumpets, and rattles.  According to Armand J. Labbe, in his description of similar examples, “This is a common genre in the Americas. Ethnographic evidence based on the cultures of Indians from the forests of South America suggests that these figures may be petitioning the heavens for rain.” (Labbe, “Colombia Before Columbus: The People, Culture, and Ceramic Art of Prehispanic Colombia” New York: Rizzoli, 1986, page 142.)