Tiles and Ceramics of Talavera de la Reina, Spain

Talavera de la Reina is the original place where the famous blue and yellow "talavera" tiles were first made. Both the technique and the tradition of covering church domes and walls with colorful tiles traveled to the Americas with the colonial Spaniards. Architectural and artistic tiles are still made in Talavera today. The colorful sculpture on the right may be seen while driving through Talavera de la Reina.

Artesanía Talaverana is located at 36 Avenida de Portugal, Tel: 925 802 737. The virtual studio tour below demonstrates most of the steps involved in producing a piece from beginning to end.
Original designs on paper are approved by clients before proceeding with commissions.	Base glaze is applied by hand to damp, bisqued tiles.		Excess glaze is cleaned off the back of the tiles with a wet, slow-moving belt.	Edges are touched up with a glaze-charged paint brush.

Pierced patterns and transfer powder	The tiles are placed on an easel and hand painted in the studio.

Plaster molds are used to form some three-dimensional pieces.	Colorful glaze is hand painted over the base glaze.	Pieces are fired in an electric car kiln.	Artesanía Talaverana Showroom.

LINKS:
Tiles and Ceramics of Seville
Earthenware Ceramics of Ubeda, Spain
Monje Ceramics of Lora del Rio, Spain
Earthenware Tiles of Portugal
Majolica Ceramics of Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Blacksmithing in Andalucia, Spain
Sculpture of Seville, Spain
Silversmithing of Seville, Spain
Metal Spinning of Seville, Spain
Marquetry of Granada, Spain
Capelo of Guanajuato, Mexico
Angelica Escarcega Rodriguez of Guanajuato, Mexico
José Luis Méndez Ortega of Guanajuato, Mexico
Guevara Ceramics of Guanajuato, Mexico
Tecpatl Ceramics of Guanajuato, Mexico
Maya Reproductions of the Yucatan
Pottery of Western Cameroon
Traditional Dunzi Production in Yaoli, China
Porcelain production in Jingdezhen, China
Roof Tiles in Bali, Indonesia

Web page, photographs, and text by Carol Ventura in 2005. Please look at Carol's home page to see more about crafts around the world.