Effigy Plummet, In Shape of Bird's Head Item Number: 64.211.3 from the Brooklyn Museum
Description
This plummet is deeply carved head of a bird (bottom in photograph). The end is tapered possibly for tying on a cord for suspension. Some uses for these types of plummets are: weights to be used in weaving, sinkers for fishing, personal talismans or ornaments.This plummet is deeply carved head of a bird (center in photograph). The feathers are indicated sweeping around the neck. The eyes are perhaps characteristic of the bird’s species. The end is tapered possibly for tying on a cord for suspension. The end is tapered possibly for tying on a cord for suspension. Suggested uses for these types of plummets are: weights to be used in weaving, sinkers for fishing, personal talismans or ornamental pendants suspended from the neck or waist either by the elite class or by commoners as dance performance display. There is an early sketch of several dancers wearing such plummets dangling from their waists entertaining what appear to be elite people. Hundreds of these plummets have been found mostly just tapered so these are especially fine as carved to represent local fauna.
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. William B. Parker
Label
These plummets (hanging weights, sometimes used on fishing lines) are among more than three hundred that have been found in a site north of Weeden Island, Florida. Their abundance has led to the theory that they were probably not simple fishing tools but ornaments suspended from the neck or waist of high-status individuals (or perhaps commoners) during special ceremonial dances. Often they are plain tapered stones, but rare figurative examples such as these three represent local wildlife.
Item History
- Made between 200 and 500
What
Who
- Culture
- Woodlands and Deptford culture
Where
- Holding Institution
- Brooklyn Museum
When
- Creation Date
- between 200 and 500
Other
- Location
- American Identities: A New Look, American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, The Americas’ First Peoples, 4000 B.C.E.–1521 C.E., 5th Floor
- Classification
- Tool