Bowl · Late Prehistoric
Mimbres black-on-white bowl
1000–1130 CE, Mimbres
The Mimbres bowl is the figurative black-on-white bowl of the Mimbres valley of New Mexico, about 1,000 to 1,130 CE, painted with animals, humans and mythic scenes or geometric fields. Bowls were inverted over the faces of the dead with a kill hole punched through. They are the most celebrated ceramics of the ancient Southwest.
| Object | Bowl |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1000–1130 CE |
| Period | Late Prehistoric |
| Cultures | Mimbres |
| Regions | North America — Southwest |
Diagnostic traits
Hemispherical bowl with a single animal, human or geometric figure painted inside; many have a kill hole in the base.
Identification
Mimbres bowls are hemispherical with a single painted figure or a framed geometric composition inside and a kill hole in the base, unlike Ancestral Puebloan bowls, which are geometric with no kill hole and a different paste. Boldface, Transitional and Classic styles are distinguished by line weight. Paint is mineral black on a thin white slip over brown paste.
Reproductions and fakes
Mimbres bowls are faked and, more often, fabricated from a few genuine sherds with a repainted figure; ultraviolet light reveals the fill. Modern reproductions signed by potters are also sold; genuine paint has a slight sheen and the slip is crazed and worn.
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Mimbres black-on-white bowl" (Artifact type). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/types/mimbres-black-on-white-bowl. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-mimbres-black-on-white-bowl,
title = {Mimbres black-on-white bowl},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/types/mimbres-black-on-white-bowl}},
year = {2026},
note = {Artifact type article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.