Saturday, January 17, 2009

Ixachitlán Blue and White Tea Set


We are proud to introduce our new line of Ixachitlan handmade pottery. The pottery is made entirely by hand by artisans from the community of Villa Progreso. Villa Progreso is a community of the state Queretaro located 74 km southwest from the city of Queretaro. Its name comes from the two hills between which it is located, the “Otomies” used to call it “Bothe” or Place of the Two Hills. Villa Progreso was inhabited mostly by the Indian “Otomies” that came from Xilotepec (near Mexico City) in 1942.

A family of Villa Progreso’s community began making this beautiful pottery about 40 years ago. The artisans use ancient techniques that have been passed down from their ancestors. Now, the production is run by a daughter and her family and about another 20 people from the same community participate in the creation of each piece. Below is a brief demonstration of the pottery making process.

First: The clay is pounded into the molds and left for drying...


Pounding clay into molds


Second: The dried ceramic products are lightly marked with a pencil to paint symmetrical figures...


lightly marking pottery with a pencil


Third: The artisans mark with pencil the different figures on the ceramic using paper...


Drawing figures on the ceramic


Fourth: One artisan paints the plain color lines and the other one paints the figures...


Hand painting the pottery


Fifth: Another artisan paints the small dots on the ceramic pieces...


Artisan painting small dots on pottery


Sixth: Once the paintings are dry, the ceramic pieces are cooked in an oven at 1200 °C...


Artisan painting small dots on pottery


Note: The pieces are stoneware and can be used in the microwave and do NOT contain lead.

Ixachitlán Pottery Coming Soon!



Ixachitlán Coffee Cup

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