Puebla, about eight miles east of Mexico City, has
given the world everything from El Cinco de Mayo to chicken smothered in
chocolate sauce (mole), but for collectors Puebla is most famous for its
Talavera ceramics.
Talavera
Poblana (“Poblana” means “Pueblan”) needs to be distinguished for Talavera de
la Reina, produced in Spain. The two are related. Shortly after the Conquest of
Mexico in 1521, Dominican friars helped establish what is now on of the
country’s largest cities in Puebla. They brought over Talavera de la Reina ceramics
craftsmen to give the community an industry.
Nearly 500
years later, Talavera Poblana is made much as it originally was. This is what
fascinates collectors. Talavera artisans are far more than ordinary potters. To
begin with, they are as famous for their tiles as for their tableware. Their products
range from monumental vases to delicate candleholders. Anything ceramic can be
Talavera, although very little that is ceramic is Talavera.
Talavera is
maiolica, earthenware with tin oxide added to the glaze. The tin glazing provides a stable white
surface for painting on decorations. Decor makes Talavera special. Spanish Moors
developed the glazing process, exporting it to Italy (Maiolica was the Italian
name for Majorca). The Italians added new designs. Others came from Central
Europe and the Netherlands, all ruled by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who
included Spain among his domains when Cortes arrived in Mexico.
From
Mexico, the Spanish extended their empire to the Philippines and established a
virtual monopoly on trade with the Orient. Talavera craftsmen soon were adding
Chinese designs to their ceramics. During the colonial era, Talavera tiles were
treasured. They can be seen covering the domes of cathedrals and churches. The
ambitious, it is said, “dreamed one day of building their own house of tiles.”
In the
tumultuous years following Mexican Independence (1821), Puebla ceramics
workshops almost disappeared. The beginning of the 20th Century saw Talavera
exhibits at the Chicago Art Institute and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York. It was thought to be a vanished art form. The new interest spurred many factories
to turn out mass produced imitations. That competition notwithstanding, legitimate
Talavera began appearing once again.
Today there
are slightly more than a dozen certified Talavera workshops in and around
Puebla. By law, only ceramics from that region can be called Talavera. More
than that, true Talavera bears a hologram on the bottom stating it is
legitimate. Often three months work goes into a piece, from the kneading of the
clay (at times still done by bare feet) to the shaping, glazing, first firing,
painting and second firing. And if that hologram certification is not enough,
visitors are welcome to stop by the shops and see for themselves the work being
done. Prices range from 50 pesos for a single tile to about 1,500 pesos for a
place setting.
Puebla, by
the way, is more than Talavera workshops. One of the most handsome colonial
cities in Mexico, it has been declared a World Heritage Site by the United
Nations. Come for a weekend and you won’t see it all, although you will have a
chance to sample chicken in chocolate sauce. Called mole (moe-lay), the dark
brown sauce contains chile, not sugar, and as many as 80 other ingredients. As
for Cinco de Mayo, the holiday commemorates the defeat of invading French
troops during the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Puebla
brims with venerable lodges, perhaps the most famous of these being the Camino
Real whose 84 rooms occupy what came into this world as a 16th
century convent. And now the city has a Holiday Inn converted from a
French-inspired residence built during the Porfiriato. For romance, however,
the smaller inns are, to my way of thinking, the most delightful. Hostal Santa
María, Hostal Agua Dulce and Mesón San Sebastián all qualify in this respect.
As for the
Sacristía de Capuchinas and Sacristía de la Compañia, each is rather like an
antique store with a few rooms to rent. Most of the furnishings carry a price
tag, so, if you see anything you like, just say the word. The proprietor,
Leobardo Espinosa is the scion of a family of dealers in ancient wares and his
taste is exquisite. These mesones are, it might be added, the most expensive
places to stay in Puebla, although cheap compared to what a hotel room can cost
in Mexico City, not to mention Cancun.
The
historic center, where, as you might expect, the historic hotels are located,
makes Puebla the romantic city that it is. A lone guitarist, or maybe a trio,
will be playing in the tiny cafes tucked along the Plazuela de los Sapos or
above the Barrio Artistico. Los Sapos is to Puebla what the Left Bank once was
to Paris. The bars and bistros rely for business on students and those who wish
they were students. Los Artistas caters to customers who might be characters in
La Boheme. Avenida Juárez is antro alley, crowded with discos and such, better
than anything else this side of Acapulco, but not what I would call romantic.
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