Tairona Figural Pottery Frog Ocarina tanagra Colin Sheaf & Richard Kilburn

Colin Sheaf & Richard Kilburn

representing an honored Fang ancestor

sculptural art such as this was central to religious and judicial life

and wood for functional tools and weapons

An exceptionally rare and evocative artifact

Tairona Figural Pottery Frog Ocarina tanagra Colin Sheaf & Richard KilburnPre Columbian era, Tairona civilization, c. 1000 1500AD, Gairaca, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Northern Colombia. Mesmerizing, important Tairona ocarina in the form of a naturalistic frog or toad with raised head and bulging applique eyes. In the Pre Columbian world frogs were associated with rain, all the sustenance it ensures, and by extension fertility. Their croaking sound was believed to herald rainstorms. In essence, frogs were thought to be powerful