Fig. 245. Top shaped instrument, with three finger holes, alligator ware—1/1.
Our collection contains several dozen three note whistles or pipes. Most of these represent animal forms, which are treated in a more or less realistic way, but with a decided tendency toward the grotesque. Nearly all are of small size, the largest, an alligator form, having a length of about eight inches. In the animal figures the air chamber is within the body, but does not conform closely to the exterior shape. The mouthpieces and the orifices are variously placed, to suit the fancy of the modeler, but the construction and the powers are pretty uniform throughout. There are two finger holes, placed in some cases at equal and in others at unequal distances from the mouthpiece, but they are always of equal size and produce identical notes. The capacity is therefore three notes. The lower is produced when all the orifices are open, the higher when all are closed, and the middle when one hole—no matter which—is closed.
Besides the animal forms there are a number of shapes copied from other musical instruments or from objects of art, such as vases. A very interesting specimen, illustrated in Fig. 247, modeled in imitation
of a drum, has not only the general shape of that instrument, but the skin head, with its bands and cords of attachment, is truthfully represented.
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| Fig. 247. Drum shaped whistle of plain ware, with bird figure attached—1/1. | Fig. 248. Vase shaped whistle, lost color ware—½. |