�Project Introduction:�Mexican Pottery and Motifs��PCC’s Internationalization Component �Curriculum Component ��

Mexico is the third largest country in Latin America. It borders to the north with the United States of America, to the south with Guatemala and Belize, on the East by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.

There are many regions, states and cities in Mexico and each have their own history of making pottery and decorating the surfaces of their work.

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This research and studio project introduces the pottery of Mexico and asks you to choose a particular area and to explore the ceramic work made there.

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Then, to focus on a vessel shape or motif and to create a ceramic transcription of it in the studio.

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In this example, let’s focus on Oaxaca, Mexico.

Traditional Oaxacan black pottery

Traditional Oaxacan black pottery

Contemporary Oaxacan black pottery

Oaxacan black pottery

Now, let’s look at another region in Mexico. ��About 90 miles southeast from Mexico City is Puebla, Mexico.��I researched the pottery and motifs from the region and learned about Tavalera Pottery.��There are even examples of Tavalera Pottery on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website.

The traditional look of Talavera surface decoration uses carefully painted cobalt blue on white.

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‘Puebla was the most prominent of the Mexican centers of pottery production to employ the technique of tin-enameled earthenware, known in Europe as maiolica or faience. This technique produced a hard opaque white glaze, which served as a background for colorful, enamel-painted designs.’ –

‘The name Talavera, as applied to this ware, alludes to the city of Talavera de la Reina, the major producer of colorful maiolica in Spain from the sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century.

One tradition holds that the technique was introduced to Puebla by immigrants from the Spanish pottery center before 1653, the year in which the Pueblan potters’ guild was founded.

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However, the majority of surviving eighteenth-century maiolica from Puebla, with its blue-and-white palette, reflects the position of this city on the Spanish trade route from the Far East via the Philippines and across Mexico. ’

‘A vast quantity of Chinese export porcelain carried by galleons from Manila remained in New Spain and served as models for the potters in Puebla (who were undoubtedly also conscious of the vogue for blue-and-white pottery in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe).’

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–Met Museum

Talavera Pottery

Bottle

ca. 1800

Mexican

Tin-glazed earthenware

Talavera Pottery from Puebla is traditionally richly decorated by expert pottery painters.

A contemporary display of Talavera painted ceramic tiles for sale in Puebla, Mexico

Example: After researching Talavera Pottery online I found this piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. I will base my transcription piece on this piece of pottery.