Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cerámica
Cultura Diaguita

Cerámica
Cultura Diaguita

Metal
Cultura Santa María

Cultura Diaguita- Inka

This whistling bottle comes from the Chorrera culture, which inhabited the southern coast of modern-day Ecuador between 1000 and 300 BCE.

It is a wind instrument that is played by blowing through the neck of the bottle. The sound is produced by a small globular flute located in the base of the bottle’s handle. If the bottle is partly filled, a tremulous sound is produced due to the passage of bubbles through the liquid.

This instrument has no fingering holes and makes only one note (B+), but the tone may be varied by changing the quantity of liquid, the position and movement of the piece, and the style of blowing into it.

The body of the bottle is shaped in the form of a human figure seated in the lotus position, and its base is flat. The bottle has a straight, ridged neck and a small handle.

Dimensions: 200 mm high x 100 mm long x 180 mm wide (approx 8” x 4” x 7”).

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This whistling bottle is a relic of the Vicús culture, which flourished in the northern coast of modern-day Peru between the years 1 and 500 CE.

It is a wind instrument that can produce sound without the player having to blow into or over it. The bottle can hold water or other liquid that is moved to produce an air current that in turn plays a small globular flute found inside the figure’s head. A wide range of sounds may be produced by varying the quantity of liquid.

There are no fingering holes, and this piece produces only one note, B. It can also be played by blowing through the hole in the back of the bottle.

Dimensions: 248 mm high x 210 mm long x 162 mm wide (approx 10” x 8” x 6”).

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This whistling bottle comes from the Jama-coaque culture, which inhabited the territory of modern-day Ecuador between 500 BCE and 500 CE.

It is a special kind of wind instrument that produces sound by the movement of water it contains, without any need for blowing into or over it. The water’s movement gives rise to an air current that produces a whistling sound. This instrument is capable of producing just one note, C#.

This style of whistling jar is related to examples made by contemporary cultures in Mexico and, unlike other whistling bottles from the Andean region, it has such a wide opening that it cannot be played by blowing into it.

The figure portrayed in this piece is playing a rondador (four-tube panpipe) with one hand, and shaking a maraca with the other.

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Cerámica
Cultura Nasca

Metal
Cultura Chimú