Talavera de la Reina pottery is a traditional type of
faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
, or
tin-glazed earthenware
Tin-glazed pottery is earthenware covered in lead glaze with added tin oxide which is white, shiny and opaque (see tin-glazing for the chemistry); usually this provides a background for brightly painted decoration. It has been important in Isla ...
made in
Talavera de la Reina
Talavera de la Reina () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Its population of 83,303 makes it the second most populated municipality of the province of Toledo and the fourth largest in th ...
,
Toledo (
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
). The area has a long history of
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
, and dishes, jars,
ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
and other objects have been found in recent archaeological excavations. Some of the materials discovered date back to the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
Arabs brought to the city new techniques, including a new kind of kiln for firing pottery. During that era, many of the pieces included abstract motifs as prescribed by Muslim religious restrictions. In the fifteenth century, Jan Floris brought new styles from Holland. He founded a factory which started the pottery tradition of the city.
[Natacha Seseña: ''Cacharrería popular. La alfarería de basto en España''; 1997, Alianza Editorial. ; p. 238.]
Ceramics of Talavera have been used to make fountains; examples exist in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Tiles for buildings have been made; some are in
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Its presence in royal palaces and museums all over the world testify to its quality.
There are different styles of Talavera de la Reina Pottery:
* Baroque
* Renaissance
* Bird collections
* House collections
* Religious collections
* Hunting scenes
Workshops in the town keep up the tradition pottery, including Ruiz de Luna and Emilio Niveiro.
Colonial Mexican
Talavera pottery
Talavera pottery (Spanish: Talavera poblana) is a Mexican and Spanish pottery tradition from Talavera de la Reina, in Spain. The Mexican pottery is a type of majolica (faience) or tin-glazed earthenware, with a white base glaze typical of the ty ...
comes from and is named after the Talavera de la Reina pottery.
Notable historical azulejos
*
Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa: azulejos
*
Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha: Former sights
Gallery
Image:Fuenteranas.jpg, Frog fountain in Prados Gardens, Talavera de la Reina.
Image:Ceramica Talavera fuente decorada ni.jpg, Ceramics from Talavera de la Reina, Toledo (Spain). Museum of Valladolid in the Fabio Nelli Palace.
Image:Talaveramenhires.JPG, Talavera menhirs.
References
{{commons category, Ceramics from Talavera de la Reina
Spanish pottery
Azulejos in Spain
Talavera de la Reina
History of ceramics