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.