Central Coast of Peru
Sican (Lambayeque) culture

Blackware Pottery
ca. 750–1375 CE
Length 8.5 in, Width: 5.5 in, Height: 8.25 in
Aerophones – Wind Instruments Proper – Edge-blown Flutes

A Pre-Columbian, Peru, Sican (Lambayeque), double chamber whistling vessel, also known as huaco silbadores.  This finely modeled blackware pottery vessel with a strap handle, features on top of the front vessel the head and upper body of ‘Naylamp,’ the mythical founder of the Lambayeque dynasty, rendered with a stern visage and large, circular eyes. His tall, tapered two peak headdress, and his arms and hands pressed to his chest add to the striking sculptural design.  The whistling two-chamber vessel is sounded by blowing into the back spout or pouring liquid from one chamber to the other to create a whistle sound.  A small opening in the mouth of ‘Naylamp’ serves as a small spout for the air to whistle through.  Below ‘Naylamp’ are images of three fish in low relief and beneath is a band of water and waves, all representing water, the ocean, and natural resources.

 Sicán is one of many archaeological sites in the northern Peruvian region of Lambayeque, a name which has also been applied to this culture. The Sicán culture developed largely on the basis of the Moche culture and bridged to the Chimu cultures.  The Chimu coexisted with the Chancay on the Peruvian northern coast before the Inca conquest.