The whistling vessels are extraordinary instruments, the result of a long acoustic and morphological experimentation. It is two ed vessels that include a hidden whistle which is driven hydraulically. These were plentiful in South America and the documented specimens show a wide variety of forms not seen in Mesoamerica. Apparently, theirs origins lay in the south of the American continent and came to Mesoamerica via the Pacific Coast around 500 B.C.
Unlike South America, whistling vessels are rare in Mesoamerica and never have two examples been found in the same archaeological context; they are always isolated. Such vessels are made up of three sections:
1) an open pot or cup shaped vessel where the liquid is poured;
2) a conduit connecting the container with the closed vessel;
3) a closed effigy vessel where the whistle is housed.
The operating mechanism consists of pouring water into the open container and slightly tilting the vessel. Thus, the fluid moves and generates a drive which in turn moves the air mass located in the closed vessel and forces it towards the whistle's bezel to produce sound. In the vessel displayed here, the body of the whistle makes up the personage's head. In the back there is a square hole (the sound hole) and next to it, the exit of the air duct; the rest of the channel remains hidden. The sound hole is delimited by two dike-like plates that guide the airflow towards the bezel.
An x-ray reveals the dimensions of the air duct and the perfection of its design, wide at the entrance and narrow at the exit, which generates a laminar air flow that results in a short, clear, albeit barely audible, sound. To produce this vessel the artisan used a brown-orange clay and turned to modeling technique with applications pastillage. Both the pot and the back portion of the personage received special treatment which consisted of the application of engobe and burnishing in order to waterproof the walls and prevent leaks.
A pot is held between the effigy's legs; he wears an asymmetrical helmet, decorated on its right side with circular discs, while the left lacks decorative elements. The center of the helmet has a bundle of feathers. In his lower lip he has a labret with serrated edges. The face stands out because of its physiognomic detail and expressiveness. These elements, along with some morphological features, such as the rectangular sound hole, dikes and type of air duct, correspond to the style of the Late Post-Classic Nahua.
There is still no data on the use of whistling vessels to put together a convincing argument. However, it is noteworthy that the few examples documented in archaeological contexts come from tombs or burials. One proposal suggests that the hidden acoustic mechanism, the use of water, low sound intensity and placement of the vessel in the form of a phallus may have had ritual connotations, possibly in private ceremonies, and may have been part of the set of objects used by the priests in shamanic rituals.
Gonzalo Sanchez
It is a strange and fascinating piece which has an overabundance of reasons to doubt its Pre-Hispanic origin. This is a clay figure which is a full-body representation of a personage who carries a kind of shell on his back. He holds an extraordinarily large composite silhouette vessel between his feet which he is looking at.
The individual's face, portrayal of the features, is perhaps the key to figuring out its place of origin, but it is certainly no easy task. The figurine breaks with everything we know so far, maybe the face might be taken to be the most conservative, the most orderly in of representational conventions, but all the rest of the set is quite new. We must keep in mind that the artistic styles are complex systems of representation and although updated constantly they never violate their own rules; they are conventions that operate in a structured manner. Surely they may be subject to formal changes but they are always consistent with the version of the same style and representations of a singular moment of a civilization.
The problem of this piece is that none of the above is completely fulfilled. The face and headdress are on one side and the rest of the object is definitively moving in a different direction. There are elements that can introduce some discussion about the time of manufacture, the use of color arranged with the intention of conferring a "metallic" sheen obtained by superimposing several layers of black paint, a treatment that sought to imitate the leaden finishes of Southern Mesoamerica that became popular in the Gulf of Mexico from the Late Classic (ca. 900 AD) and throughout the Post-Classic.
Moreover, the use of red on the neck of the small pot and the incision that serves to separate it from the black painted body is actually a very rare decorative taste. What then of the shell? Almost half a sphere placed on the back. Despite this, the facial expression, it must be repeated, bears some resemblance to other pieces of Pre-Hispanic antiquity, but it is particularly difficult to establish parallels.
We must not forget that this is an object deprived of its archaeological context; if it is not a forgery, which also should not surprise us in any way as this, up to a point, has been a frequent activity in Mexico that has used the same marketing channels used by looters for decades. An old museum guide establishes that it may come from somewhere in Oaxaca, but it is truly unlikely for the reasons stated above. If it is actually a Pre-Hispanic piece, then we can be sure that we are before a true work of art that is unmatched in the pottery of ancient Mexico.
Arturo Pascual Soto
