Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Lambayeque region, Sican culture, ca. 750-1375 CE. Known for their adept pottery techniques, the Sican used ceramics as a means to express their politics as well as religious ideology. Vessels with animal effigies were favored. In this bridge-spouted whistling vessel, the artisan featured a bird with a serpent in its mouth. This pairing would persist through the time of the Aztecs who believed that the god Huitzilopochtli commanded his people to find an eagle perched atop a prickly pear cactus (nopal in Spanish) growing on a rock submerged in a lake. Said eagle had a serpent trapped in its mouth. Archaeologist Izumi Shamada named the Sican, a term that means "temple of the moon". The Sican culture succeeded the Moche; however, there is some sense that the two cultures may have overlapped. 7 1/2"L x 3 1/2"W x 6 3/4"H

Ex- Colorado Springs Collection

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Functioning whistling vessel. Some surface wear and repaired. Appears in excellent condition.