- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Nose flute of bamboo, burnt design round the stops. The flute has three finger holes and two thumb holes. [FC 26/07/2011]
- Long description
- Nose flute of bamboo, burnt design round the stops. The flute has three finger holes and two thumb holes. The burnt decorations are lines around the finger holes. [FC 26/07/2011]
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1918
- Date collected
- By 1918
- Acquisition information
- Bequeathed: 1939
- Materials and processes
- Material Bamboo Plant, Process Perforated, Process Burnt, Process Pyroengraved Pokerwork
- Dimensions
- Diameter: max 40 mm head, Length: max 726 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1938.34.148 Other numbers: 148
- Research and responses
Widely made and used in every region of the Pacific except Australia, nose flutes are played with the nose rather than the mouth. To do so, the musician generally holds one nostril shut with the thumb or a finger and sounds the flute by blowing into a small hole drilled near the top of the instrument with the other. Nose flutes are almost universally made from bamboo and, like other small bamboo flutes, are typically used in informal settings. In Fiji nose flutes were played by both sexes to provide soothing music when at rest or during courting. The melodies, composed of from two to four notes, were quiet and plaintive, providing a relaxing interlude or softly enticing a current or prospective lover. [FC 26/07/2011]
Search terms: Music, Musical Instrument, Flute