Ceramics of Jalisco
The two main ceramics centers are Tlaquepaque and Tonalá, with a wide variety of products such as cookware, plates, bowls, piggy banks and many types of figures.
[1] The Spanish introduced European techniques to the area, especially the potter's wheel to make more symmetrical containers and glazing to keep color and give a bright finish.
[1] One item which seems luxurious today, but was probably relatively ordinary in colonial period was large ceramic bathtubs, which were richly decorated inside and out with images such as Saint James on horseback, the patron saint of the locality, double headed eagles and other motif surrounded by vegetative images, flowers, thick and thin lines and more.
[3] In the 1950s and 1960s, Jorge Wilmot and Ken Edwards introduced more modern high-fire ceramics to the Guadalajara area, starting in Tonalá.
[3][4] Today, Jalisco's ceramics stand out for their variety, unique decoration and various style noted for their quality, well known nationally and internationally.
Most artisans in the state are part of the "informal economy" without formal government registration, making census of the industry difficult.
[8] Some artisans have moved into specialty markets such as Artesanias Erandi, selling lead-free, hand painted glazed ceramics, popular with US buyers for its rustic and ethnic look.
[7] A wide variety of traditional low-fire and some high fire ceramics are made in Jalisco, ranging from cheap objects to artistic productions.
Many of these pieces are slender necked jugs or lamp bases, often decorated with animals, such as rabbits, with distorted characteristics, giving them a surreal look.
[3] Canelo is a type of bruñido is named for the color the fired clay turns out, which is various shades of cinnamon (canela in Spanish).
The decorative lines are generally horizontal with different thicknesses and tone with other stylized objects such as leaves, waves and more added.
This type of pottery is used to make mugs for hot chocolate, platters, large bowls and some animal and human figures.
[14] The work involved in the decoration makes this one of the more expensive types of Mexican ceramic, and for this reason, it is most commonly seen on large, relatively flat platters.
He also founded a new school of ceramic production which remains to this day, using a traditional green-gray background with images made of small dots, often of double headed eagles, lions and multicolored suns.
Workshops from both traditions create elaborate bowls, jars, flower vases, and decorative pieces such as fish figures from miniatures to those measuring fifty centimeters.
In 1997, a museum dedicated to prize winners was inaugurated as the Museo del Premio Nacional de la Cerámica Pantaleón Panduro, named after a famous artisan.
[1] Major high fire ceramics workshops today include Netzi, whose bowls has a gray enamel in the inside, with the exteriors finished with a textured yellow, similar to cork, earning it the name of "corcho."
[10] Market days, Thursday and Sunday, are a good chance to see a wide variety of ceramics of the region, all spread out on the streets of the downtown.
One common type of bruñido or canelo item is animal figures, especially cats in Oriental poses, made by a molding process.
[3] The town hosts an annual ceramics competition called the Concurso Nacional de la Cerámica Tonallan.
The institution was begun when a board of local artisans and businessmen with sculptors Jorge Wilmot and Ken Edwards to find a way to promote the ceramic tradition here.
The collection contains pieces created by some of the most renowned artisans of the area and are of the styles most typical to Tonalá such as bruñido, bandera, petatillo and canelo.
Artists and artisans represented include Salvador Vásquez, Juan Antonio Mateo, Gerónimo Ramos, Nicasio Pajarito, Candelario Medrano, Jorge Wilmot and Ken Edwards.
[3] Another popular liquid container in the Tonala area is the tinaja, a squat jug with a handle at the top and a small spout.
[20] In Santa Cruz de la Huerta, near Tonala, specializes in clay drainpipes, some crudely fashioned toys and whistles in the shape of animals.
In his workshop can be found double decked boats, church buildings with miniature people, and animals such as lions, roosters and owls with savage human faces.
[12] One specialty is the making of human figures, called "tipos populares" ("common guys") that measure between ten and twenty five centimeters in height.
[3] About 2,000 artisans such as Jose Garcia Quinones in Tlaquepaque preserve the tradition of making nativity scenes and other figures from clay.
[22] There are potters in Tlaquepaque that specialized in doing portraits of famous people in clay, including 19th-century presidents Porfiro Díaz and Benito Juárez.
[5] In 2011, the museum received on permanent loan two thousand pieces from the collection of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas for exhibition.
