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Duct flute
Native American, possibly Sioux
mid-19th century
Object Place: Possibly South Dakota, United States, Plains
Medium/Technique
Wood, sinew
Dimensions
Length 51.7 cm, diameter 2.7 cm (Length 20 3/8 in., diameter 1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Helen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession Number1984.315
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Aerophones
DescriptionCylindrical body of wood constructed in two halves, partially encased with heartsack (?) and bound together in six places with thin red sinew. Tied around body in nine places are strips of leather with dangling ends, one suspending sparrow-hawk claw and one suspending small strip of animal fur. rectangular window covered by external duct block of wood carved with shape of horse and bound to body with leather. Proximal end slightly convex with small blow hole at center. Six equally-spaced fingerholes in distal half of body.
ProvenanceRoberta Campbell Lawson (b. 1878 - d. 1940), Tulsa, OK; by inheritance to her son, Edward Campbell Lawson (b. 1905 - d. 1961), Tulsa; 1947, given by Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Lawson to the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa (cat. no. MI 2301; accession no. 244 AIM); June 18, 1982, deaccessioned by the Philbrook Museum and sold in Santa Fe, NM. By 1984, Tad Johnson (dealer), London [see note]; sold by Johnson to Douglas Deihl, Northampton, MA; 1984, gift of Douglas Deihl to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 13, 1984)
NOTE: This information was given as tentative. The dealer Taylor (Tad) Dale, then of London, may have been meant.
NOTE: This information was given as tentative. The dealer Taylor (Tad) Dale, then of London, may have been meant.
The Memory Song, 1941
Composed by Belo Cozad
Performed by Barry Higgins on a reproduction after a courting flute, possibly Sioux people, mid-19th century