Blue Puebla Swallow

The swallow motif has long been popular in authentic Talavera pottery and is usually depicted in cobalt blue, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. However this bird seems to suggest the quetzal found in the cloud forests of Oaxaca, a state that borders Puebla. Isabelle Collins works in the style and technique of classic Talavera ceramics to create a beautiful 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.