Double Chambered Whistling Vessel

3D Model

(OMC 1960.802.001)

This pre-Colombian double-chambered whistling vessel from the area of present-day Peru creates a whistling sound when filled with water.

The first chamber has a “blind spout” or closed-off spout often fashioned in the form of a bird or animal. When water is tipped from the normal open spout chamber to the chamber with the blind spout, air is forced out of a small hole in the blind spout, producing a whistle. The tone or pitch of the whistle changes with the water level. The whistle often sounds bird-like.

This whistling vessel was brought back from Peru by International Oil Driller Charles Wallen in the early 20th Century.