What is this gourd

[jtw1313]

Anyone know if this is painted on this Not natural I would think

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Part of a pair of Maracas? I believe they use a calabash gourd (same as the outside of Sherlock Holmes' calabash pipe).

 

[Red-Coat]

Part of a pair of Maracas? I believe they use a calabash gourd (same as the outside of Sherlock Holmes' calabash pipe).

Agree, it sure looks like a broken maraca. Giving it a shake will confirm that (or not).

[Useless factoid: Holmes is not described as smoking a calabash in any of Conan Doyle's stories. It originates from a choice made by the actor William Gillette in 1899 who played Holmes in a stage production. Gillette wanted a pipe that was large enough for audiences to see, with an extended bent stem so the bowl wouldn't hide his face or blow smoke into his eyes.]

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

He also never said: "Elementary, my dear Watson" in the books.

But then, James Bond was a wizened & scarred old SAS operative who used electrical tape-for-grip .25 ACP Berettas for conceilability and few if any gadgets and drove a 1935 Cord and drank Bourbon. ;-)

 

[jtw1313]

Are maracas usually more colorful? There are rattles as well I believe in Native American but I’m not sure that’s why I posted

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

They ( I believe) came from Africa, to Haiti/Dominican Republic, spread through Latin America & Mexico & Brazil. So, originally less colorful but later more colorful and ornamented would be my (non-professional but educated anthropologist) opinion. Also based on the "artist" who decorated them and his/her skill and possible intent, or lack of. I really haven't put much thought in them.

Now, chickens, and their spread traced from remains from India and China through Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands to South America. THAT is an amazing history. ;-)

 

[Doubter in MD]

Could it be the Holy Gourd of Jerusalem?

holy music

FOLLOWERS: ...Look! Ah! Oh! Oh!

ARTHUR: He has given us a sign!

FOLLOWER: Oh!

SHOE FOLLOWER: He has given us... His shoe!

ARTHUR: The shoe is the sign. Let us follow His example.

SPIKE: What?

ARTHUR: Let us, like Him, hold up one shoe and let the other be upon our foot, for this is His sign, that all who follow Him shall do likewise.

EDDIE: Yes.

SHOE FOLLOWER: No, no, no. The shoe is...

YOUTH: No.

SHOE FOLLOWER: ...a sign that we must gather shoes together in abundance.

GIRL: Cast off...

SPIKE: Aye. What?

GIRL: ...the shoes! Follow the Gourd!

SHOE FOLLOWER: No! Let us gather shoes together!

FRANK: Yes.

SHOE FOLLOWER: Let me!

ELSIE: Oh, get off!

YOUTH: No, no! It is a sign that, like Him, we must think not of the things of the body, but of the face and head!

SHOE FOLLOWER: Give me your shoe!

YOUTH: Get off!

GIRL: Follow the Gourd! The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem!

FOLLOWER: The Gourd!

HARRY: Hold up the sandal, as He has commanded us!

ARTHUR: It is a shoe! It is a shoe!

HARRY: It's a sandal!

ARTHUR: No, it isn't!

GIRL: Cast it away!

ARTHUR: Put it on!

YOUTH: And clear off!

SHOE FOLLOWER: Take the shoes and follow Him!

GIRL: Come,...

FRANK: Yes!

GIRL: ...all ye who call yourself Gourdenes!

SPIKE: Stop! Stop! Stop, I say! Stop! Let us-- let us pray. Yea, He cometh to us, like the seed to the grain.

EDIT: Sorry. I can't pass up an opportunity to make Monty Python references.

 

[HuntinDog]

Not natural coloring... hand decorated

 

[Red-Coat]

Not natural coloring... hand decorated

Indisputable. I'm reading between the lines that it does actually rattle, as a maraca would, although James hasn't explicitly said so. It's a fallacy to assume that all maracas made from calabash gourds are 'brightly decorated'. That would depend on what culture they might be from and perhaps also how old they might be. I've seen plain ones just stained brown, some with just a stripe or dot decoration, and technicolour ones looking like they've come through an explosion in a Mexican paint factory.