Summary

Clay whistle made in Leningrad, Russia, in 1980, by a school pupil aged about 8 years, as part of primary art curriculum. The design is based on traditional peasant pottery Leningrad, (St. Petersburg) Russia. Donated to the Australian Children's Folklore Collection by Dr. Margaret Powles, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, 1998.

It is part of The Australian Children's Folklore Collection, which is unique in Australia, documenting contemporary children's folklore across Australia and in other countries reaching back to the 1870s. The Collection has a strong component of research material relating to Victoria.

Physical Description

Hand-crafted and painted clay whistle, with a broad flat base on which an animal is being milked by a child. The animal has a broad, round tail, which has fine holes in it to form the whistle. It has a very long neck and long pointed ears. The animal is painted with brightly coloured stripes in red, yellow, green and orange. The child is milking the animal and wears a hat. He has a dish on his lap for the milk and is painted in red, with crudely painted features.

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