id: 94884 accession number: 1915.444 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.444 updated: 2023-03-03 07:01:05.189000 Whistle, late 1800s. Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe people, late 19th century. Probably hippopotamus ivory; overall: 8.6 x 3.2 cm (3 3/8 x 1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund 1915.444 title: Whistle title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: late 1800s creation date earliest: 1880 creation date latest: 1900 current location: creditline: Educational Purchase Fund copyright: --- culture: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe people, late 19th century technique: Probably hippopotamus ivory department: African Art collection: African Art type: Musical Instrument find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 8.6 x 3.2 cm (3 3/8 x 1 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Museum of Art Educational Extension display, Cleveland, OH, 1931. https://digitalarchives.clevelandart.org/digital/collection/p17142coll1/id/4239/rec/2 --- PROVENANCE The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1915- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Second Careers : Two Tributaries in African Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019 page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 19, fig. 2. url: https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1090438741 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.444/1915.444_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.444/1915.444_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.444/1915.444_full.tif