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.
     
    wlwhittier likes this.
  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.
     
    wlwhittier likes this.
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