Tag Archives: ceramics

Huatulco

Red Clay Ceramic-producing Maestras of San Marcos Tlapazola

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By Amber Dunlap—

For nearly twenty generations, the potters of San Marcos Tlapazola have been hand-crafting comals (flat griddles used to make tortillas) and other cookware from their local supply of iron oxide-rich clay. Their Barro Rojo (Red Clay) ceramics are sought after the world over and a draw for travelers seeking to experience yet another slice of the rich artisanal landscape of Oaxaca’s Central Valley.

Every February, just after the corn harvest, the 300 or so potters of San Marcos Tlapazola (all women) make their way up into the hillsides to expertly select all of the beige- and red-tinged earth they’ll need for the year ahead. It’s a trek that is both grueling but necessary. Under the hot Oaxacan sun and the exposed hillside, they hack at the earth with pickaxes and shovels, scooping up and adding heavy clods of earth to the sacks they’ll eventually tie to their backs and lug back down the mountain.

Once back at their workshops, they soak this collected earth in water, sift it, then knead it, and ultimately lay it out to dry under the sun for many hours, waiting patiently for it to become just the right texture. Once ready, they mix the prepared clay with water to soften it into a buttery smooth consistency and add sand to avoid any cracking during the firing process.

Grabbing a scoop of this now ready clay, the Maestra gets to work. The clay is shaped and transformed with an expert touch, one well-honed since childhood when she likely learned from the chair beside her mother and her mother’s mother. Not a potter’s wheel in sight, she picks up tools of smooth leather, the shell of a gourd, and a dried-out cob of corn to shape and smooth the clay into forms both familiar and fueled by inspiration in the moment. Within minutes a two-handled pot appears or a curved vase with a mouth and nose. It’s as if these flawless forms appear straight out of thin air.

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Once the piece has been shaped to the Maestra’s liking, it’s then dipped in a glaze made of red clay and water and set aside to harden and dry for burnishing. Burnishing is yet another astounding piece of this remarkable San Marcos Tlapazola tradition. The smooth river stones used to polish the dried clay pieces are typically passed down from mother to daughter through the generations. If you’re lucky enough to hold one in your hands, it’s possible that you are holding a stone from that Maestra’s original pottery-producing ancestor.

This process is repeated over and over again until a sufficient collection of pots, plates, and platters have been created for a firing.

The firing process is delicate. If a rogue rain shower happens to dampen the wood or the wind that day is roaring a bit too strongly, the entire collection could be ruined. For this reason, many of the Maestras do their firing in the morning hours. They prepare an area of their yard, following a very distinct layering process of first stacked brick or stones, then a metal sheet or bedsprings to create an elevated bed for the pottery to rest on. From there, they add the pottery and surround it with twigs, logs, and pieces of broken pottery before covering it all again with yet more rusted sheet metal. Additional twigs and logs are then layered on top along with cow dung and dry organic matter. Then it’s all set aflame with a match. The pottery fires for about 45 minutes. Once done and the fire has died out, the pieces, hopefully unbroken, are cooled, dusted off, and packaged up for the Maestra’s next trip to market.

This tradition, and this way of life in San Marcos Tlapazola, is one that many of these women are born into and expected to carry on, but it’s one that many, including the Maestra I met, truly find peace and life-giving satisfaction in practicing. That is a sight to see.

How To Experience This Ancestral Red Clay Ceramics Tradition in the Flesh

Tour Option
Join ‘WSE Travels Red Clay Pottery Experience to explore the rich traditions of Macrina Mateo Martínez’s renowned red pottery, also in San Marcos Tlapazola. The experience includes a hands-on workshop from Martinez herself, as well as insights into the village’s vibrant culture. Martinez will share her story of leaving her village and founding a local women’s empowerment co-op. Like all of WSE Travel’s experiences, this isn’t just a tour; it’s a celebration of art, resilience, and community.

Price: $145 USD
Duration: About 6 hours, depart at 9am and return by 3pm
How Often? Wednesday through Sunday weekly
What’s Included?:
– Pre-trip information to educate and prepare you for the experience
– English-speaking guide
– Translations + demonstrations with local food vendors
– Transportation to/from your Oaxaca Hotel
– All meals and snacks (except alcoholic beverages)
– A small gift to take home with you

For more information and to book: http://www.wheresidewalksend.com/travel/oaxaca-red-clay-pottery-tour/

The Do-It-Yourself Option
San Marcos Tlapazola is about an hour and ten-minute drive from Oaxaca City. If getting there by colectivo, you’ll first have to go to Tlacolula and then from there catch a second colectivo or taxi to San Marcos Tlapazola. The colectivos from Oaxaca City to Tlacolula leave from the second-class bus station near the Mercado de Abastos.

Once in San Marcos Tlapazola, you can wander the main street of Matamoros and poke your head inside any open home workshop studios or collectives that are accepting visitors. Though I haven’t been myself, the female-run shop Mujeres del Barro Rojo is said to be a good starting point for your San Marcos Tlapazola adventure.

Alternatively, you could plan to shorten the trip by timing your visit to Tlacolula for its Sunday Market when many of the potters from San Marcos Tlapazola make their way to this market to sell some of their Barro Rojo ceramics. They’re easy to spot by the red clay ceramics laid out in front of them and by the colorful pinafore-style aprons embellished with floral embroidery that they wear.

The benefit of going all the way to San Marcos Tlapazola, however, is that the selection is much bigger and better, as some of their heavier and more elaborate pieces often don’t get carried to market. That and the fact that you just might be lucky enough to witness the clay-making or firing process in action.

Amber Dunlap is a travel writer and the founder of No Maps or Foot Tracks, where she shares off-the-beaten-path guides and deep dives into living traditions, artisan crafts, and community-rooted tourism throughout Mexico and around the world. Read more of her stories at No Maps or Foot Tracks and follow her adventures on IG at @nomapsamber.

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Talavera Ceramics

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By Julie Etra

Talavera refers to a type and style of ceramics, including tiles, that originated in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. King Philip II of Spain (1527-98) famously used these tiles to decorate the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, an enormous complex in the city of the same name northwest of Madrid.

Mexican talavera is referred to as Talavera Poblana to distinguish it from its Spanish relative. The clay used for Mexican Talavera is natural earth, the same used to produce terracotta. The best clay is found in Puebla and Tlaxcala, east of Mexico City and the center of Mexico’s Talavera production, while the Moorish and European work uses white clay.

The glazing technique is the same, though, and was brought by the Moors to Al-Andalus (Andalusia, in southern Spain) in the 14th century. Called “faïence” after Faenza, Italy, which became a major pottery production center, the glazing technique adds tin to the lead-based white “slip,” or liquid clay applied over the surface of the piece, to create a smooth surface for painted decoration. In addition to the metals incorporated into the glaze, the faïence technique requires very high-temperature kilns.

The pottery of Spain and Mexico retains the name Talavera from the city of its origin; tin-glazed pottery from Majorca, the Mediterranean island off the eastern coast of Spain was called “Majolica” or “maiolica,” and was shipped from the island to Italy, where, as noted, the glaze became known as faïence.

In Mexico, production is centered in four Puebla cities: Puebla itself, Atlixco, Cholula, and Tecali. Most likely introduced by Catholic monks, demand increased in the 17th century as Puebla grew and more churches and monasteries, that is, buildings subsidized by the Church, which was able to afford the lavish, ornate decorations. Elaborate tile façades of private homes were also indicative of wealth and prestige.

The terracotta clay is brick red (pun intended) and visible at the base of the pieces, left unglazed so the piece does not fuse to the shelf of the high-temperature kiln. To meet regulations for authenticity, Talavera pieces are hand thrown on a potter’s wheel – they cannot be mass produced. Glaze colors are limited to blue, yellow, black, green, orange, and mauve (pinkish purple), and must originate from natural pigments. Historically, blue was the dominant, if not only, color, derived from cobalt, prestigious due to its rarity. Cobalt does not typically occur in free form but is chemically combined, requiring smelting to be isolated. The bottom of the piece is signed by the artist, where the logo and location of the manufacturer also appears.

The production process of Talavera ceramics is slow, meticulous, and complicated. With the many steps come the risks of failure at each juncture, one explanation for the relatively high cost for such exceptional art. There are two firings, as with stoneware and porcelain ceramics. Following the first firing the pieces are hand painted, and then fired at a high temperature.

Talavera is a proprietary product, like tequila or Champagne, with production authorized only from a particular place – in this case Puebla (and Tlaxcala, surrounded by Puebla), with nine certified workshops regulated by the Talavera Regulatory Counsel (Consejo Regulador de la Talavera). Techniques and materials are very thoroughly scrutinized by the Board. The Consejo tests glazes to ensure that the glaze does not have lead content of more than 2.5 parts per million, since many pieces are used to serve food and beverages.

These days, you can find the workshops online and order pieces ranging from all sizes of tiles and full place settings. From my perspective there is no substitute for a trip to Puebla (also famous for its excellent cuisine) to admire and examine the beautiful architecture and associated ceramic embellishments, and to personally check out the workshops and markets. Talavera is Puebla!

Photo: Modern Talavera – Daniel LLerandi

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