page_title: Mexican ceramics
section_title: Pottery production
hierarchical_section_title: Mexican ceramics / Pottery production
caption_attribution_description: Español: Demostración de la creación de barro en un taller de alfarería en el pueblo de Tlayacapan, Morelos, México English: Demonstrating how clay is made in a pottery workshop in the village of Tlayacapan, Morelos, Mexico
context_page_description: Ceramics in Mexico date back thousands of years before the Pre-Columbian period, when ceramic arts and pottery crafts developed with the first advanced civilizations and cultures of Mesoamerica. With one exception, pre-Hispanic wares were not glazed, but rather burnished and painted with colored fine clay slips. The potter's wheel was unknown as well; pieces were shaped by molding, coiling and other methods.
  After the Spanish Invasion and Conquest, European techniques and designs were introduced, nearly wiping out the native traditions. Indigenous traditions survive in a few pottery items such as comals, and the addition of indigenous design elements into mostly European motifs. Today, ceramics are still produced from traditional items such as dishes, kitchen utensils to new items such as sculptures and folk art. Despite the fame of the prior, the bulk of ceramic items produced in the country are floor and wall tiles along with bathroom fixtures. Mexico has a number of well-known artisan ceramic traditions, most of which are in the center and south of the country.
context_section_description: Ceramics is the most practiced craft in Mexico. Shapes and function of the pieces vary from simple flat comals, used for making tortillas to elaborate sculptures called Trees of Life.  The most basic forms, such as comals, cazuelas (a type of stew pot), simple bowls and other cooking and storage ware are still based on native designs and forms. Decorative ceramics and figures are almost completely dominated by European traditions, especially in central Mexico. In some cases, there is a blending of traditions, mostly in decorative designs where indigenous elements are combined with European elements.
  A relatively new tradition in ceramics is called "folk art". These pieces are mostly decorative, such as figures, tiles; and fine wares such as casseroles, teacups, and dishes. These are produced for the Mexican upper class, the international market, and to some extent, tourists. Folk art production is encouraged by government at all levels, with a large number of artisans now signing at least their best pieces. While this segment of the market keeps ties with the past, it is also sensitive to fashion trends as well. This leads to experimentation with new decorative elements and the disappearance of those that do not sell.
  Imperfections in pieces are less tolerated in local Mexican markets than in some foreign markets. The reason for this is that mechanized production of near perfect copies is still a relatively new phenomenon, so the imperfections that show something was made by hand do not have the "charm" they might in more industrialized countries.
  Most potters work in family workshops, with everyone participating in the process. Pottery making families tend to be secretive about their practices and rarely cooperate with anyone outside the family for any aspect of the pottery making process. Superstition may surround the process, especially firing, with potters taking care to avoid "the evil eye" of neighbors and building small shrines and performing Christian and indigenous blessings. Both men and women mold pieces, but men generally do the largest pieces (due to weight) and do the firing. Children begin to work with clay when they are about six, molding decorative elements. They usually begin molding pieces when they are about fourteen, mastering it by about eighteen. The male head of a family workshop is often of retirement age, whose primary purpose is instruction and supervision. However, many of these workshops are disappearing as elders stop working entirely and children seek other, more profitable careers.
  Mexican potters generally use local clays, digging it up themselves or paying someone to bring it by donkey or truck. The kind of temper used varies on location, from cattail fluff in Metepec, to sand in Acatlán or kapok in Ameyaltepec to give the clay the right consistency and it keep the final product from cracking. In some cases feldspar is used. The clay comes in chunks, which must be dried and then crushed, using a rolling stone or flail. Some potters in Metepec put the chunks on the street in front of their house and let the cars drive over them. Another way to remove impurities and use the finest is to disperse the clay in water, with impurities and rougher sediment falling to the bottom.
  All of the methods used in pre-Hispanic times, along with the potter's wheel, are still used to make pieces. Coiling is usually limited to finishing a piece that has first been pressed into a mold. Molding is the most common way of forming enclosed vessels. Most of these molds are concave or convex, with the clay pressed against the inside or outside of the mold. Sometimes liquid clay is poured into plaster molds. Potters wheels are most commonly used in some workshops, and often to rapidly make a succession of small vessels. Their use is more common in Guanajuato and Jalisco than other parts of the country. In many places, the wheel is powered by foot, using a kickwheel, rather than by electricity. Hand turned wheels are also used. In Oaxaca, a type of proto-wheel has been used by the Zapotecs since pre-Hispanic times. 
caption: Mixing of cat-tail fluff, used as temper, into clay in Morelos
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