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Mexican Military Drum from San Blas Port 1828
Mexican
San Blas, Nayarit
1828
Painted wood and hide with rope tensioning
13 x 16.25 inches (33 x 41 cm)
Michael Higgins, Tucson, Arizona; William H. Guthman, Westport, Connecticut
The drum has a wide cylindrical body of painted wood, its surface worn to dark tones with traces of red, ochre, and blue decoration still visible around the shell. Hide heads are stretched over both ends and held by rope tensioning that runs in a zigzag down the body through leather tugs, several of which survive alongside losses and repairs. The wood is cracked and abraded in places and one head is torn near the center, consistent with age and field use.
The drum comes from San Blas, the Pacific port in present-day Nayarit that served as a Spanish and then Mexican naval and supply base for the Californias. Dated 1828, it belongs to the years when Alta California was still under Mexican control and San Blas remained its principal point of maritime supply. Objects of this military character from the period survive in small numbers, which is part of what accounts for the price.
William H. Guthman (1924 to 2003) was a Connecticut dealer and collector who specialized in early American military material and colonial-period artifacts, and whose collection and scholarship in that field are widely cited. This drum comes from his personal collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Mexican
San Blas, Nayarit
1828
Painted wood and hide with rope tensioning
13 x 16.25 inches (33 x 41 cm)
Michael Higgins, Tucson, Arizona; William H. Guthman, Westport, Connecticut
The drum has a wide cylindrical body of painted wood, its surface worn to dark tones with traces of red, ochre, and blue decoration still visible around the shell. Hide heads are stretched over both ends and held by rope tensioning that runs in a zigzag down the body through leather tugs, several of which survive alongside losses and repairs. The wood is cracked and abraded in places and one head is torn near the center, consistent with age and field use.
The drum comes from San Blas, the Pacific port in present-day Nayarit that served as a Spanish and then Mexican naval and supply base for the Californias. Dated 1828, it belongs to the years when Alta California was still under Mexican control and San Blas remained its principal point of maritime supply. Objects of this military character from the period survive in small numbers, which is part of what accounts for the price.
William H. Guthman (1924 to 2003) was a Connecticut dealer and collector who specialized in early American military material and colonial-period artifacts, and whose collection and scholarship in that field are widely cited. This drum comes from his personal collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.