Talavera Poblana: Four Centuries of a Mexican Ceramic Tradition

This illustrated bilingual study explores the development of Talavera Poblana tin-glazed earthenware, from the seventeenth century when it was introduced to the New World in Puebla, Mexico, to the present day. These distinctive ceramic basins, vases, drug jars, tile panels, and sculptures synthesize forms and motifs of Spanish, Islamic, Chinese, and Italian origins to create a magnificent, uniquely Mexican style. In 1565, when trade opened with Asia, Spain began importing Chinese porcelain in large quantities, and by the mid-seventeenth century, Puebla ceramists had succumbed to the fashion for Chinese blue-on-white porcelain. At the height of the Spanish empire, Talavera Poblana enjoyed the widest distribution of any ceramic ware in the New World. Around the time of Mexican independence the Talavera Poblana ceramic tradition experienced a collapse, to be revived in the early twentieth century. This collection of important examples of colonial, modern, and contemporary ceramics from Puebla celebrates the continuity of a ceramic tradition that both looks back to its cultural history and reveals a renewed contemporary vision.