The Chimu began to develop as a large state with
its capital at Chan Chan, a major urban center in
the Moche valley. Chimu ceramics use forms and
iconography derived from both the Moche and
Huari style in combination with certain new
features. Most of their vessels are superbly
modeled and beautifully polished, reflecting the
investment of a good deal of time and skill.
This dark, well-polished vessel is a depiction of
a frog image. Its body is round and full, and its
amicable face looks upward slightly, displaying
its round eyes and a large mouth that seems to
be smiling. The legs are delicately rendered and
it wears a dotted enhancement around its neck.
The tail of the frog is an interesting portion of
the sculpture--it is in a unusual, upside down
fork-like shape, perhaps signifying a symbolic
meaning that only the ancient Peruvians knew.
Gleaming with a dark sheen, this beautiful and
dainty frog effigy vessel does not cease to please
the viewers’ eyes and hearts. Sculpted in the
powerful Chimu state, which conquered all of the
Peruvian valleys from Lima in the south to
Tumbez in the north, this effigy vessel seems to
embody the glory and distinction of the time of
its creation.
- (PF.3614)
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