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you know how to recognize the real talavera?

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you know how to recognize the real talavera?
Talavera stands out for its beauty and quality, famous since the Renaissance and was brought as Pizzan tiles to Mexico by the Spaniards. Puebla and Tlaxcala are the most important centers of Talavera production due to the quality of their clays and the manufacturing tradition in ceramics and indigenous pottery. Cultural syncretism, the mixture of cultures, is present with the Talavera that begins with its distinctive style, the vitreous finish in ivory white as the basis of the decoration, the colors blue, yellow, black, green, orange, and mauve. Its designs and fine characteristics of Mexican craftsmanship mixed with Spanish touches and oriental techniques, make Talavera an icon of Mexican culture. Talavera involves six different processes that can take up to 6 months. As a whole, its integral elaboration gathers 15 steps. The first consists of preparing a mixture of black clay and white clay; the second, dehydration and kneading; the third, molding the pieces by hand, on foot lathes; the fourth is the so-called jahuete or first firing; the fifth, decoration, design and painting; sixth is the second firing, which is done at more than 1000 degrees Celsius (1832 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 hours in a special oven. The painting and drawing of each piece are done by hand with fine hair and feather brushes. Once the clay is mixed, the mixture is strained to remove the grit, then the excess water is removed by decantation to dry the pieces in dark rooms without ventilation to prevent drying on the outside, this process can take up to a month and a half. The elaboration includes careful actions of deaeration, kneading, storage, drying in special chambers, glazing, and enameling or glazing. The glazing or vitreous enamel consists of the pieces covered by aspersion or runoff. Once dried, the design of the painting is traced, then it is decorated by hand with natural pigments. The second firing is carried out at 1,150 degrees Celsius (2102 degrees Fahrenheit) resulting in a shiny ivory-colored coating. The result is pieces of great aesthetic sense, of singular color, decorations with movement and beauty, and formal and cultural richness that demonstrate a great specialized artisan knowledge. The fine Mexican folk art elaborated by the hands of artisans who collect ancient traditions must be distinguished from the semi-industrial or even industrial processes, with which some pieces try to imitate or replace what is truly a handmade craft, this difference is what is reflected in the quality with which you can decorate your home. Talavera was granted the Denomination of Origin (DO4) in 1995, covering the pieces made according to the viceregal tradition (XVI century) in the city of Puebla, Cholula, Atlixco, and Tecali in the state of Puebla; and in San Pablo del Monte in the state of Tlaxcala. Also, Talavera is Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since 2019. Artties is a trading company that when bringing its products to the United States aims to do so at the best possible price, to continue spreading the Mexican culture, however, we require the understanding of our customers in order to distinguish the cost and time in the pieces of Mexican folkloric fine art handmade plus the costs in the delicate transportation and customs procedures, in contrast to the pieces that massively also reach the U.S. market but come from semi-industrial or industrial processes massified.

Last Update: Feb. 13, 2023, 5:43 p.m.

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