Featured Help ID Tribal Rattle/Whistle ?

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by bosko69, Aug 21, 2026 at 10:16 AM.

  1. bosko69

    bosko69 Well-Known Member

    Found at a garage sale in Portland,OR on a table w/ repro & fantasy pre-Columbian ceramics. It caught my eye because of perceived (???) age-of course 99.9999% of theses artifacts are phony.
    Polychrome surface seems to have age wear,cracking shows signs of glue,2 holes on base-with a large pea-size free rolling ball inside.Degradation of base glaze clay poss long-term ground contact ?
    Shaken it makes a rattling sound-no sound when I blow on either of the large holes or the mouth slit.
    Size- 7 1/2" lngth X 4 3/4" wdth X 3 1/4" ht.
    Any opinions or info welcome-thanks !
    PS- Will be hitting garage sales for nxt 3-5 hrs, sorry if incommunicado. Rattle 1.jpg Rattle 2.jpg Rattle 3.jpg Rattle Bck Clseup Crack.jpg Rattle Face.jpg Rattle Belly Clseup.jpg
     
    Boland, wlwhittier, verybrad and 4 others like this.
  2. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

  3. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

  4. bosko69

    bosko69 Well-Known Member

    Thanks @2manybooks- ditto,Costa Rica was the only country of origin I could find for turtle rattles/ocarinas that didn't have much in the way of feet.
    I never buy these pieces, but this one was suspiciously authentic-looking.
    PS- Will shoot some pics to museums & auction houses. Note, even if authentic-not a priceless item, but just finding the real thing'd be a kick !
     
  5. Potteryplease

    Potteryplease Well-Known Member

    Good find Bosko--- I think it looks promising too.
     
    wlwhittier and Any Jewelry like this.
  6. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Promising and charming. Always love that colour combination.
     
    wlwhittier and Potteryplease like this.
  7. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Well-Known Member

  8. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    I don't see how that's a whistle..?
     
    2manybooks likes this.
  9. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    Some of them are just rattles.
     
  10. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    wouldn't the stones fall out of this one?
     
  11. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Maybe the crack in the shell prevents successful whistling by letting air escape instead of going all the way through?

    It's a wonderfully well observed turtle face.
     
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