Engraved Conch Shell

Item number 60.53.1 from the Brooklyn Museum.

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Description

Engraved conch shell depicting bird-man form with beaked mask and "speech scroll" coming from mouth. Engraved lines are painted with brown pigment. Streamer lines extend from head. Perforated spool in ear. The arms are extended with feathered wings hanging down. Feet are claws. Wears ankle band, necklace and belt.Such conch shells were used as cups to hold a drink made from yaupon leaves used as a purge during ceremonies.

Credit Line

By exchange

Label

The engraving on this shell depicts a falcon warrior wearing a beaked mask, a cloak of feathers, and ear spools. Vomit or a speech scroll emanates from his mouth. Falcon regalia connect the human warrior to the sky realm, giving him special powers. Interior Mississippian tribes traveled to the coast in great numbers in the springtime to gather conch shells, using them as ceremonial cups to hold a liquid made from the yaupon plant. They would then drink the “black tea” in order to induce vomiting, a purging action of cleansing the body as a form of transformative prayer.


El grabado en esta caracola representa a un guerrero halcón llevando una máscara con pico, manto de plumas y aretes. Vómito o volutas de palabra emanan de su boca. La vestimenta de halcón conecta al guerrero humano con el mundo celestial, otorgándole poderes especiales. Las tribus del interior del Mississippi viajaban a la costa en grandes números en primavera para recolectar caracolas, que utilizaban como copas ceremoniales para sostener un líquido hecho de la planta yaupon. Ellos bebían entonces el “té negro” para inducir vómito, una acción purgante de limpieza del cuerpo como una forma de plegaria de transformación.


Item History

  • Made between 1200 and 1500

What

Name
Engraved Conch Shell
Identification Number
60.53.1
Type of Item
shell
Material
conch shell and pigment
Measurements
“Falcon warrior: 10 7/16 x 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (26.5 x 19.1 x 14 cm)” ?

Where

Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum

Who

Culture
Mississippian

When

Creation Date
between 1200 and 1500

Other

Location
Arts of the Americas Galleries, 5th Floor
Classification
Funerary Object

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