MAG Collection - Double-Chambered Spout and Bridge Vessel with Llama or Alpaca Head

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Double-Chambered Spout and Bridge Vessel with Llama or Alpaca Head

1350-1470
Precolumbian
6 x 8 3/4 in. (15.2 x 22.2 cm)

Chimú artist
Peru

Chimú; made in Peru

Object Type: Ceramics

Medium and Support: Blackware

Credit Line: R. T. Miller Fund

Accession Number: 1946.24

Location: Currently on view

Link to this object

Double vessels are typical of Chimú ceramics and were valued for their musical component: blowing into the spout produces a whistling sound. When filled with liquid the vessel can be made to whistle by itself by tipping it back and forth, thus forcing air from one chamber to the other, causing the whistle to sound. Here the whistle is incorporated into the head of a llama or an alpaca. Prized as a source of food, fiber and transport, they were valuable and essential animals and frequently depicted in the art of the Andean region.
[Gallery label text, 2009]

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword

Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America

Chimu

1000-1400

1400-1600

vessels

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