2-726-910 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Darkware Vessel, late 1400s. Under the Chimú, whose empire stretched for 800 miles along the Peruvian north coast, the value of ceramics fell, perhaps because high-status vessels were made of precious metals. Accordingly, ceramics were mass-produced with molds and, rather than bearing painted scenes, often have an overall dark surface achieved by firing in a smoky atmosphere. This firing method was also used for very early Andean ceramics, including the example at the far left. We dont know whether the Chimú revived the method to venerate earlier cultures. The vessel with the stripped surface was made after the Chimú were conquered by the Inka in the late 1400s.