Peruvian Pottery Whistles

AMONG the most interesting objects secured by the late Dr. William C. Farabee on his last trip to Peru (see “Dr. Farabee’s Last Journey,” Museum Journal, Volume XVII, 2) are four small figurine whistles of painted pottery now on display in the central hall on the lower floor of the Museum. Although obtained in 1923, these whistles have not previously been published. Their proveniences are not known, owing to Dr. Farabee’s fatal illness which resulted from his trip, but the polychrome decoration identifies them incontestably as belonging to the Nazca culture. Probably they were excavated from an ancient grave in the Nazca Valley by treasure-hunters from whose hands they passed eventually into Dr. Farabee’s. Historically, nothing is known of the early inhabitants of this valley, though it is generally believed that they were among the earliest highly civilized peoples of Peru and probably flourished in the first five centuries of the Christian era.

Figurine whistles of this type are apparently extremely rare, if indeed the present examples are not absolutely unique. I know of none elsewhere, and d’Harcourt’s La Musique des Incas, the standard work upon Peruvian music, does not mention them.

The whistles are dainty and well executed objects. As shown in Plate X they stand on hemispherical bases of plaster made in the Museum for their support. They are quite small, the tallest only two and one-half inches in height. The base of each figure is a tube through which the breath was blown. The upper part is moulded and painted in human form, the interior being hollow and forming the resonance chamber with the whistle opening at the back; this is shown in the second figure, which is seen from the side. In the first and largest figure the limbs are well moulded and a bowl is held in the hands; nostrils and mouth are shown by tiny incised holes. The body of the second figure is barely suggested, while in the other two the main features are indicated by the modeling, but most of the details are painted. Various tints of red and brown, and buff and black colors are utilized. The notes given by the whistles are all high in tone and vary but slightly.

J.A.M.