Chimú Whistling Stirrup-Spout Vessel

A pre-Columbian pottery vessel of the Chimú culture of Northern Peru, dating to around 1200 CE. It is an anthropomorphic double-chamber whistle vessel in the classic stirrup-spout form of the ancient Andean ceramic tradition.

The body is modeled as a seated human figure with defined facial features and functional whistle perforations. As liquid was poured or the vessel moved, air passing between the two chambers produced a whistling sound, a property understood to have served ritual and ceremonial purposes.

The vessel measures approximately 5¾ in high × 5 in wide × 3½ in deep (14.5 × 12.7 × 9 cm) and weighs about 12 oz (340 g). Comparable Chimú stirrup-spout whistle vessels are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum in London, and the Larco Museum in Lima.