Select the image to zoomJar with Serpentine Handles
ca. 1660
Attributed to Damián Hernández (active ca. 1607-70)
Puebla de los Angeles (Mexico)
Tin-glazed earthenware
H. 47 cm
Spanish craftsmen introduced the technique for producing tin-glazed earthenware into the New World in the first decade after the conquest of Mexico in 1521. By the mid-seventeenth century, Puebla de los Angeles had become the most important center for tin-glazed earthenware, which was immensely popular and widely distributed throughout the Americas during the colonial period. In 1653, the craftsmen founded a potters' guild which issued ordinances to standardize production and protect against fraud. In Mexico this ware is often called talavera poblana after the Spanish city of Talavera de la Reina where highly prized ceramic vessels were made.
Among the many choice pieces in the Hispanic Society, this jar represents the high quality these potters attained. Scholars have attributed the mark "he", located on the lower section of one side of this jar, to the distinguished master potter, Damián Hernández. Born in Spain but trained in the New World, he enjoyed a successful career and was one of the founding members of the potters' guild. Although the piece presents an outstanding example of talavera poblana, it is also notable for its assimilation of other traditions. The inverted pear shape recalls both Spanish and Chinese kuan storage jars. Typical of the Islamic horror vacui, no space is left undecorated in the central area. Finally, whereas the overall decoration appears Chinese, the narrative circling the jar reflects Italian-inspired seventeenth-century ceramic painting of Seville and Talavera de la Reina.
Text and images © Hispanic Society of America.