Chancay Pottery Jar Fragments

Pre-Columbian era, Chancay culture, 1000-1470AD, Peru.

Fascinating group of four unpolished, hand-painted pottery jar fragments. The Chancay were a pre-Columbian archaeological civilization which developed between the valleys of Fortaleza, Pativilca, Supe, Huaura, Chancay, Chillón, Rimac and Lurin, on the central coast of Peru from c. 1000AD-1470AD. The Chancay culture is defined archaeologically by a distinctive and homogeneous ceramic style. These ceramics are known from extensive cemeteries in the Chancay region, where they were included in burials as grave goods. They are generally mold-made of a peculiarly gritty clay that leaves an unpolished matte surface. Over this is painted a white slip, decorated with black or dark brown designs. 

Moderate condition. Fragmented. Age-related heavy wear, chip and abrasion. Encrustation and dust. Size varies from 9,5cm to 14,2cm. Sell as a set.

Provenance: Former collection of the archaeologist Ferdinand Anton, Germany, combined between 1950 and 1965. Ferdinand Anton was born in 1929 in Munich, Germany. He made a living by writing richly illustrated books about the art objects and religious rituals of Pre-Columbian cultures: the Aztecs, the Maya, and Andean peoples of South America. He was an explorer who flew to South America and Mexico, and hiked to remote shrines where few Westerners had set foot. He wrote more than forty books.