Pigeon whistle

A pigeon whistle of the gourd type with three pairs of sub-whistles. The pigeon whistle, known in China as geling 鴿鈴 or geshao 鴿哨, is a small musical instrument belonging to the Aeolian group of musical instruments. It is attached to the tail of a pigeon with the help of a spindle, so that it emits a sound when the bird flies. The whistle is usually made of light materials such as gourd and bamboo, and is lacquered.

Skušek’s collection of pigeon whistles contains three different types of instruments, distinguished by their shape: gourd, tube, and combined, of which the gourd type is the most common. In a flock of pigeons wearing pigeon whistles, the gourd-type pigeon whistle will have the lowest sound. If a gourd whistle has a larger number of sub-whistles, it can produce more notes, although their sound becomes weaker if there are too many. This is a pigeon whistle of a smaller gourd type with only three sub-whistles. It is one of a group of five specimens from the collection that are characterised by black, dark red or yellow colour with various floral patterns in black. It bears a specially engraved mark (Chinese character) or logo. Where this belongs to a recognisable family of manufacturers, it tells us more about the characteristics and manufacture of the whistle and increases its value. This pigeon whistle is engraved with the character yin 尹, which is meant to indicate a family of artists; we know however that the makers were amateurs, not counted among the most famous designers of pigeon whistles. (KH)