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Carved wooden flute with leather straps and red pigment / Unknown

Essay/Description

Wooden flute held together with leather stripes. Flute is decorated with red pigment.

Flutes have existed in Native American cultures since at least 625 C.E., when the earliest known flute was created. They have been made from many materials, including wood, reed, and bone, and are typically vertical. In the Plains region, the wooden flute’s soothing melodic sound is known as a courting instrument, whose sound would help a man woo his beloved (Fauntleroy 2006).

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Title(s): 
Carved wooden flute with leather straps and red pigment
Creator(s): 
Unknown
Joseph Henry Sharp Collection (Collection)
Culture: 
Native American; Plains
Date: 
late 19th century
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
wood, leather, pigment
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
73.127
Department: 
Not On View

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