Original La Menora TALAVERA Espana Water Wine Pitcher

The roots in the techniques and designs of majolica lie in Islamic pottery and were brought to Spain with the Moors before the 12th century. Spanish craftsmen from Talavera de la Reina (Toledo, Castile, Spain) adopted their techniques and added influences from Italy and local materials to create their own decorative pottery style. The Spanish brought the Talavera techniques to Mexico with colonization where it was adopted by artisans in Puebla and later became known as Talavera Poblano. Today, as in the early years of Spanish Talavera, the design of the pieces is highly regulated by tradition and require that all Talavera pieces are hand-thrown on a potter's wheel with natural clay only. All patterns are executed in natural pigments - blue, yellow, black, green, orange and mauve. Cobalt blue became the most prized as the blue pigment was the most expensive in the early days but also became a sign of the quality of the piece. The painted designs are raised and have a blurred appearance as they fuse slightly into the glaze. Glazes, containing tin and lead, cover the brightly painted surfaces. This glaze must craze, be slightly porous and milky-white, but not pure white. Bases are left unglazed and expose the raw terra cotta beneath. The handcrafting process of Talavera pots takes three to four months, making the process risky as a piece can break at any point. As a result, Talavera is 3-4 times more costly than other types of pottery, which has put Talavera manufacturers under pressure from imitations from China and areas in Mexico outside of Puebla. Talavera, both Spanish and Mexican, have been declared a part of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.