This terracotta, published by Ludowici in 1904, is preserved at the Museum of Speyer. It is very difficult to interpret and yet seems to show the image of an organ with a pneumatic wind chest. The instrument has fourteen pipes all of equal diameter, held by two sturdy vertical uprights decorated with square motifs. There is no transverse bar. The wind chest, relatively large, is surrounded by frames with the same decoration and bears a reversed inscription reading: “POTTALUSF.” Above the pipes, curved like those of the Alexandria terracotta, a rounded image might depict the head of the organist, who would have had the treble pipes to his right.
The Terracotta of Rheinzabern
Ludowici, 1904, p. 137 (public domain). Oggetto già parte della Collezione Ludowici, Museo Storico del Palatinato (attuale ubicazione sconosciuta).
Date:
4th century
Location:
Historical Museum of the Palatinate, Speyer, Germany
Author:
Anonymous
Technique and materials:
Terracotta
Dimensions:
Height 13 cm; width 11.5 cm
Provenance:
Rheinzabern, Germany
Sources:
The Hellenistic-Medieval Organ by Jean Perrot
