Talavera - Mexico’s Gift To The Ceramic World
BY: Habeeb Salloum/Contributing Writer
Browsing in the Handicraft Market in Puebla, the most Spanish of Mexican towns, I was amazed and thrilled by the attractive bowls, plates, pottery, tiles and many other ceramic items artfully exhibited in the shops. Outside, strolling the streets of the historic section of town, I was overwhelmed by the artistic hand-painted ‘Talavera’ tiles with which a good number of the colonial buildings are adorned. They gave church domes, doors, façades, fountains, rooftops, walls and window frames a seductive aura. It seemed to me that a part of Spain’s Andalusia had been transported to Mexico.
These tiles, the symbol of Puebla, the capital of the state of Puebla, have an interesting history that goes back to Moorish Spain. The Arabs established the trade of ceramics in all parts of the Iberian Peninsula during the 800 years they remained in that part of Europe. They had inherited the art from the Persians, who had themselves, inherited it from the Chinese. The Arabs brought it to, and developed it in the Iberian Peninsula.
After the Muslims were expelled from Spain, the Christian Spaniards carried on the trade. Later, in the 16th century, settlers, famous for their manufacture of ceramics, emigrated from the Spanish city of Talavera de la Reina and brought the expertise of making ‘Talavera’ ceramics to Puebla – a city which was to be for them and their descendants an excellent choice.
Before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the Indians in their 400-temple sacred city of Cholula, on the outskirts of Puebla, were noted for their manufacture of pottery. It is said that Montezuma would only eat off plates made in Cholula – the finest in his empire. Hence, when the settlers from Talavera brought the craft of glazing fire-baked clay to the New World, they found skilled workers who quickly learned the trade and soon ‘Talavera’ became the most representative craft in the city,.
With the passage of time, the Spanish art of glazing was greatly improved by the Indian workers. This apparently annoyed the Spanish authorities who ordered the Indian artisans to lower the quality of their work in order not to have it look superior to that produced in Spain.
Today, Puebla’s Talavera craftsmen are still producing ceramics, with only slight changes in shapes and designs, in the same way as they were first hand-manufactured by their ancestors some 400 years ago. These ceramics are made from two types of clay which are kneaded, then modeled by hand on the lathe or by use of clay molds. After the cups, plates, large china vases and jars, all types of tiles and numerous other items are formed, they are left to dry from eight to twelve weeks. Once dry, they are baked at about 850 C until their grayish hue turns to a brick colour.
Each item is then hand-dipped in an earthenware glaze and baked at a high heat for a second time to give it the Talavera colour and shine. Thereafter, one at a time, each article is hand-painted with mule-hair brushes by experienced artisans who use only natural mineral based colours, of which there are only five: blue, black, green, yellow and reddish-pink. Finely, the items are glazed fired at about 1050 C for some 16 hours to obtain the unique ‘Talavera’ shine which will last, even if exposed to outdoor weather changes, almost forever. The excellent quality of these products reflects a perfect blend of indigenous and colonial influences.
In Puebla there are at least five factories producing ‘Talavera’ ceramics, considered to be superior to the Spanish original. The most famous of these is Uriarte Talavera whose products are world-famous. In this establishment, neither modern technology nor time has changed the process of producing ‘Talavera’. Since 1824, when Mr. Dimas Uriarte bought a pottery workshop, its workers have continued the tradition of making the authentic product. Uriarte has preserved, with very little change, the striking Puebla ceramics with an illustrious past. Each piece of their huge output continues to be a unique work of art.
One of the finest products of Uriarte and the other ceramic factories in Puebla is the majolica-type ‘Talavera’ china which, with its Chinese figures, stylized birds and other designs, displays Asian and Spanish influences. This china, with its blue color on a white background, is characterized as porcelain of glazed metallic tincture. It is one of the most important of the Mexican ceramic arts and enjoys great worldwide reputation.
Since 1997, to preserve the ‘Talavera’ name, the state of Puebla has declared that the Origin Denomination for ‘Talavera’ is reserved for only four regions: Puebla, Cholula, Atlixco and Tecali. In order to help preserve this artistic art par excellence, the original technique as well as the exclusivity of the ‘Talavera’ name, the authorities of the state are trying to ensure that ‘Talavera’ ceramics continue to retain their outstanding international prestige. Visitors should be aware that to be considered authentic, Talavera must bear the sign of the workshop where it was produced.