{
"data": {
"id": 94882,
"accession_number": "1915.442",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Whistle, late 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Chokwe-style maker. Probably hippopotamus ivory; overall: 5.7 x 3.2 cm (2 1/4 x 1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund, 1915.442",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Whistle",
"creation_date": "late 1800s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1880,
"creation_date_latest": 1900,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Chokwe-style maker"
],
"technique": "Probably hippopotamus ivory",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Musical Instrument",
"measurements": "Overall: 5.7 x 3.2 cm (2 1/4 x 1 1/4 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.057,
"height_inch": 2,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.032,
"width_inch": 1,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.25
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 301191,
"title": "Materials of the Artist",
"description": "Materials of the Artist. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-December 12, 1958).",
"opening_date": "1958-03-04T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Museum of Art Educational Extension display, Cleveland, OH, 1931. https://digitalarchives.clevelandart.org/digital/collection/p17142coll1/id/4239/rec/2",
"opening_date": "1931-01-01T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "This whistle is the first piece from sub-Saharan Africa acquired by the CMA.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Carved out of ivory or wood in a variety of shapes, Chokwe whistles often bear miniature, stylized renderings of masks. Cikunza, the \"patron saint\" of the boys' initiation into manhood, is depicted with a pointed extension imitating the horn of a road antelope, symbolizing the fertility spirit. Typically such whistles were used by men during the hunt to communicate with their co-hunters and to call their dogs. They were either worn attached to a string as a necklace or tied to a spear.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79475735"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1915.442-whistle"
]
},
"citations": [],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.442",
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],
"creditline": "Educational Purchase Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 94882,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1915-11-19T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1880,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "late 1800s",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-06-01 11:05:54.509000"
}
}