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Conch shell trumpet
Aztec or Mixtec
Late Postclassic period
A.D. 1425–1520
Object Place: Mexico, Central or Southern Highlands
Medium/Technique
Conch shell
Dimensions
38.1 x 20 cm (15 x 7 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1214
CollectionsAmericas, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Aerophones
DescriptionConch shell trumpet with carved exterior surface. The imagery includes a dancing and singing male figure who holds a saurian-headed staff, and a skeletal figure is found below the main performer. A hole drilled through the end of the shell allows it to be strung on a narrow cord, perhaps for suspension around the neck of the trumpeter, dancer or similar performer who used this instrument.
ProvenanceBetween about 1974 and 1981, probably purchased in Guatemala by John B. Fulling (b. 1924 – d. 2005), The Art Collectors of November, Inc., Pompano Beach, FL; May 20, 1987, sold by John B. Fulling to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1988, year-end gift of Landon Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 1989)
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.