DCM 1489: Anonymous Xun (Vessel Flute)

With circular wooden stand, possibly rosewood, consisting of lower hollow round base on 4 short legs supporting a second and wider diameter retaining ring mounted on 4 legs. The stand appears to be a relatively recent addition. State ritual vessel flutes of this sort can date well before 1700 B.C., but they also have been produced quite recently.
Instrument type: Xun (Vessel Flute)
Medium: Unidentified stone.; 8 x 4.6 cm.
Key Holes System: 5 lateral holes around circumference.
Mark Maximum: (Chinese character).
Provenance: Estate of Walter Piston, Belmont, Massachusetts, 1978.

The Dayton C. Miller collection in the Library of Congress, contains nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. It includes both Western and non-Western examples of flutes from around the world, with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. Items in the collection date from the 16th to the 20th century.