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Figure Whistle

3rd–7th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 362
This small hollow figure whistle is made of hammered gold sheet joined along the sides. It is similar to the numerous ceramic whistles found in Moche houses and middle-status burials. Most ceramic whistles represent warriors holding ropes or clubs and wearing capes, large earspools, and headdresses ornamented with crescents or frontal disks. The man depicted here wears comparable attributes and once held an object in his right hand, between the thumb and index finger. Although many musicians are represented in Moche art, no whistle player is known in the imagery. However, many individuals whistling with their lips are represented, some of them holding a child with closed eyes. Scholars think that in Moche society, whistling was a sound produced to communicate with the ancestors when a human offering was made.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure Whistle
  • Date: 3rd–7th century
  • Geography: Peru
  • Culture: Moche
  • Medium: Gold
  • Dimensions: H. 2 1/4 × W. 1 1/8 × D. 2 7/8 in. (5.7 × 2.9 × 7.3 cm)
  • Classification: Metal-Musical Instruments
  • Credit Line: Jan Mitchell and Sons Collection, Gift of Jan Mitchell, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.419.51
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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