With roots in Andalusian Spain, the Mexican ceramic technique of talavera is the major craft of the Guanajuato city of Dolores Hildago. Earthenware pottery is…

With roots in Andalusian Spain, the Mexican ceramic technique of talavera is the major craft of the Guanajuato city of Dolores Hildago. Earthenware pottery is covered with a white tin glaze, which is then decorated with pigments before the white glaze is fired. Since the tin glaze is highly viscous, it lends a glossy surface and helps the lines of the colored design remain crisp during firing.

The technique is a true cross-cultural craft evolution. In the 13th century, Arab potters brought tin glazing ceramic techniques from North Africa to southern Spain. The pottery was given the name maiolica by Italians who imported it from the Spanish island of Majorca. During the conquest, Spanish priests brought craftsmen from Talavera de la Reina, Spain, to the Puebla region of Mexico, where they taught the native craftsmen their Arab-Andalusian ceramic techniques. These early pieces, tiles and religious icons, decorated Catholic churches throughout the area. Over the years, Mexican craftsmen combined these new ideas with their existing earthenware traditions and developed a homegrown version that is now known by the Spanish name talavera.