**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Chimu, ca. 1100 to 1470 CE. A lovely blackware double-chambered whistling vessel comprised of two mold-made bottles, the rear one with a tubular spout and the other with a blind spout modeled with a human guardian head with a double-peaked helmet. The front and back containers are bridged by a flat, hollow handle. The outward faces of the bottles are impressed with a textile design with numerous rows of chevrons or zigzags set on diagonals - a design quite possibly intended to function as a heraldic device. A petite perforation in the handle allows the vessel to produce a lovely whistling sound when one blows through the spout. Size: 6.3" L x 4.1" W x 6.2" H (16 cm x 10.4 cm x 15.7 cm)

The helmet that this figure wears is very much akin to the so-called guardian heads depicted on Chimu pottery. According to Paul Clifford these figures are very similar to and perhaps inspired by a pair of statues discovered at a palace entrance in Chan Chan. The following discussion explains, "The archaeologist Kent Day, excavating the palace gateway of the Ciudadela Rivero in Chan Chan in 1973, revealed two wooden statues in their original position on each side of the narrow passage. Each figure stands at attention in military garb in a guard booth or niche built into the passage wall. These statues presumably held a staff or spear in their raised arms. They have been interpreted as from a squad of eighteen that once flanked the palace entrance. They wear earspools, indicative of high rank. Distinctive also are the bipointed helmets indicating ethnic, if not military, affiliations." (Paul Clifford and Elizabeth P. Benson, "Art of the Andes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections," AMS: Washington D.C., 1983, p. 207.)

Provenance: ex-Drimmer collection, Florida, USA, acquired before 1965

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#165108

Still functions as a whistle. Collection label on base. Chips to handle and rim. Expected surface wear commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with nice earthen deposits in recessed areas.