{
"data": {
"id": 94895,
"accession_number": "1915.454",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Whistle (kasengosengo), late 1800s. Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe people, late 19th century. Wood; overall: 8.9 x 3.8 cm (3 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund, 1915.454",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Whistle (kasengosengo)",
"creation_date": "late 1800s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1880,
"creation_date_latest": 1899,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola, Chokwe people, late 19th century"
],
"technique": "Wood",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Musical Instrument",
"measurements": "Overall: 8.9 x 3.8 cm (3 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.089,
"height_inch": 3,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"width": 0.038,
"width_inch": 1,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
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"inscriptions": [],
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"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": [
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"description": "Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
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"date": "1915-",
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"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.",
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"citation": "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. 3.",
"url": "https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1090438741"
},
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"citation": "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. 3.",
"url": "https://ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1090438741"
}
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 05:03:30.878000"
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