Talavera pottery of Puebla, Mexico is a type of majolica pottery, which is distinguished by a milky-white glaze. Authentic Talavera pottery only comes from the city of Puebla because of the quality of the natural clay found there and the tradition of production which goes back to the 16th century. Much of this pottery was decorated only in blue, but colors such as yellow, black, green, orange and mauve have also been used. Majolica pottery was brought to Mexico by the Spanish in the first century of the colonial period. The industry had grown sufficiently that by the mid-17th century, standards and guilds had been established which further improved the quality, leading Puebla into what is called the "golden age" of Talavera pottery (from 1650 to 1750). Formally, the tradition that developed there is called Talavera Poblana to distinguish it from the similarly named Talavera pottery of Spain. It is a mixture of Chinese, Italian, Spanish and indigenous ceramic techniques. The Talavera factory is tiny.
It takes raw clay 1 week to make.
A man is forming a bowl with the potters clay and a potters wheel.
Formed pieces take 40 days to dry.
The pieces are fired at 800 degrees C for 4 hours.
The pieces are put in a silicon sand bath and let dry for 3 hours.
The paint is a mineral paint. Cobalt Oxide makes blue, tin makes black, copper makes green. The brushes are of horse and goat hair.
After painting the pieces are baked at 1000 degrees C for 8 hours to glaze. One artist can paint 8-13 pieces a day. There are 4 artists working in this factory.
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