Colour marks the difference
In the past, ceramics were commonly used to express indigenous identity. The Arica and San Pedro cultures of Chile’s Far North, for example, developed in relative proximity, but the former made multicoloured ceramics and the latter monochromatic ones. Apparently, the closer groups lived to each other, the more they needed to distinguish themselves.
Colour marks the difference.
Colour marks the difference.
Colour marks the difference.
Colour marks the difference.
Colour marks the difference.
“Coconut” recipient Arica. MCHAP. 2494.
Polychrome Kero cup. Arica. MCHAP, 2093.
Kero cup with lizard figure. Detail. Arica. MCHAP, 2093.
Polychrome jugs Arica, Donación Santa Cruz-Yaconi, 1644.
Polychrome jug Arica, MCHAP, 1105.
Pitcher with monkey images. Arica, Donación Santa Cruz-Yaconi, 3024.
Pitcher with condor figures. Arica. Donación Santa Cruz-Yaconi, 2597.
Polychrome pitcher Arica, Donación Santa Cruz-Yaconi, 1962.
Polychrome pitcher Arica. Donación Santa Cruz-Yaconi, 3022.
Pre-Hispanic trade fair at the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama. Illustration, José Pérez de Arce.