Brown Crosshatch Blossoms

Delicate crosshatch patterns become brown floral tendrils in the style of ancient China, first used in Puebla in the mid-15th century. They adorn a curvaceous decorative jar and lid in subtle beige. Isabelle Collins works in the style and technique of classic Talavera ceramics to create a colorful ginger jar. This lidded vase is known in Mexico as a tibor; it was brought to Mexico from the Orient by way of the Philippines in the late 1500s.

'We use the same techniques and styles used in 16th-century Puebla. Classic Talavera used only six colors, all of which were natural glazes compounded at home with mineral pigments. We create our homemade paintbrushes using mule hair or horsehair from the mane or tail, according to the thickness desired for our motifs,' the artisan confides.