A few weeks back, my Spanish prof took the class to the Talaveras factory just outside the school. And it's one of my favourite trips thus far. The boss is a former art student at UDLAP and she is now a grandmother. Despite her busy schedule, she still took the time to come down and explained to us the process of making the Talaveras.
The shop front
The first step is to mix the black and white clay, before sieving it repeatedly in this container until there is no sand or organic things. The clean clay then have to be dried in the drying bed for 2-3 weeks depending on the weather. After it is dried, the clay will be stored in brick form for a few months. For chinese porcelain clay, the clay are actually stored up to 5 years!
The next step is to mould it into a shape. But the biggest container the sculptor can mould is up to the height of his elbow. Any bigger and a mould would have to be used. The moulded clay would then be dry by putting it into the fire.
Factories that were not able to get the certificate would not be able to paint blue on their talaveras. And the shades of the colours are done using an antique receipe from 1500 years ago. Not many factories still uses the recipes. Alot of the factories uses factory made dyes instead.
Doesn't it remind you of playdoh?
The next and final step would be to apply the glaze. The glaze are prepared with lead and tin, and heated at 800 degrees. After it is painted on the pottery, it is heated to 1025 degrees. As such, this allows us to cook with it. However, direct acid cannot be used on them. Lemon is okay, but not vinegar.
And finally, we were shown all these beautiful tiles in their showroom
The simple triangle pattern on the left is actually named "Handkerchief", because the nuns used to hold their handkerchief in this shape.
And tada!
The completed pieces!
0 comments