Double-chambered Whistling Pot

DateAD 1470-1532

MediumRedware

Dimensions6 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches (16.5 x 18.4 cm)

CultureChimu-Inca (Peru)

PeriodLate Intermediate Period

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineTransfer from the Sociology - Anthropology Department. Spring 1956.

Terms

Perú
Ceramics
Redware
Birds
Chimu

Object number56.161

Label CopyThis double-chambered, redware Chimu-Inca whistle pot has a bird perched on top of the blind spout. A characteristically late flat handle with impressed geometric designs connects the two spouts of the vessel, which is decorated with white slip paint on a red ground.

Birds were commonly represented on pre-Columbian pots from Peru; they are even more common on whistle pots, perhaps due to the similarity in the sounds produced by these vessels to bird calls. The sound of the pot's whistle may be considered to be the pot's "voice," and producing such sounds may help to communicate with the supernatural world.

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