{"id":"MUS2026-165","label":"Rofla, the Limousin schoolmaster's roarer","people_or_site":"Château-Chervix","country_current":"France","historic_region":"Limousin / Haute-Vienne / Château-Chervix","macroregion":"Europe","local_name":"Rofla","source_term":"rhombe en bois et ficelle","source_language":"French","object_description":"A rectangular chestnut rhombe tapering at the tip, its sides saw-toothed toward one end, with three holes of which one keeps the cord; made by Pierre Lallet in 1980 and photographed the same year at Château-Chervix by André Pelle (Mucem 1981.54.4; photograph Ph.1983.1.1).","function_summary":"A rustic children's toy of the Limousin countryside, listed by the Institut d'Études Occitanes with the reed whistles, elder popguns and bark horns children made for themselves; its maker Pierre Lallet was the village schoolmaster.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"mucem_ph_1983_1_1_rofla","source_type":"museum_archive","source_url":"https://mucem.org/notice/c/3074591","page_or_plate":"Ph.1983.1.1; Mucem c/3074591; object 1981.54.4 / Mucem c/75100","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot","coordinate_basis":"OpenStreetMap Château-Chervix administrative-relation centroid matching the Mucem place field; not a documented performance site.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"A long chestnut board, one edge cut into deep saw-teeth, its cord knotted through one of three holes bored near the end — Pierre Lallet made it in 1980, and the photographer André Pelle found it that same year at Château-Chervix in the Haute-Vienne countryside. The Mucem archive titles the picture with a single word: Rofla. The word belongs to the Limousin's Occitan and to its children: the Institut d'Études Occitanes lists the rofla among the rustic toys of the grandparents' generation, with reed whistles, elder popguns, walnut spinners and bark horns. Lallet, born at Château-Chervix and its schoolmaster for forty years, built his teaching on chestnut-wood handwork, peasant crafts and the Occitan tongue; this is a schoolmaster's roarer, made to be known.","pull_quote":"Rofla. Rhombe en bois et ficelle.","pull_quote_translation":"Rofla. Wooden bullroarer and string.","pull_quote_cite":"Mucem Ph.1983.1.1","term_gloss":"Rofla: the Limousin Occitan name for the rhombe (bullroarer), among the \"jouets rustiques de nos grands-parents\", the rustic toys of our grandparents.","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Mucem, Marseille, 1981.54.4 (rhombe by Pierre Lallet, 1980) and archive item Ph.1983.1.1 (André Pelle, 1980); IEO Limousin, 'Jeux traditionnels et contes en occitan limousin' (58e Festival du Mont Gargan, 2023)","url":"https://mucem.org/notice/c/3074591","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20261013023246/https://mucem.org/notice/c/3074591"}],"source_citations":"Mucem, Marseille, 1981.54.4 (rhombe by Pierre Lallet, 1980) and archive item Ph.1983.1.1 (André Pelle, 1980); IEO Limousin, 'Jeux traditionnels et contes en occitan limousin' (58e Festival du Mont Gargan, 2023)","source_display":"Mucem, Marseille, 1981.54.4 (rhombe by Pierre Lallet, 1980) and archive item Ph.1983.1.1 (André Pelle, 1980); IEO Limousin, 'Jeux traditionnels et contes en occitan limousin' (58e Festival du Mont Gargan, 2023)","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"A rectangular chestnut rhombe tapering at the tip, its sides saw-toothed toward one end, with three holes of which one keeps the cord; made by Pierre Lallet in 1980 and photographed the same year at Château-Chervix by André Pelle (Mucem 1981.54.4; photograph Ph.1983.1.1).","function_display":"","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"teau chervix","display_name":"Rofla, the Limousin schoolmaster's roarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/MUS2026-165_mucem_ph1983_1_1_rofla.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/MUS2026-165_mucem_ph1983_1_1_rofla_thumb.jpg","alt":"Black-and-white photograph of Pierre Lallet's Rofla: a long narrow blade with triangular notches along one edge and a long cord.","credit":"Mucem, Marseille (photograph PH.1983.1.1; object 1981.54.4)","license":"Rights not stated — Mucem documentation photograph; rehosted low-res for non-commercial research","source_page":"https://mucem.org/notice/c/3074591","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Pierre Lallet's Rofla, photographed in its home commune."},"slug":"mus2026-165-chateau-chervix"}