For several millennia Mexican artists have been creating beautiful ceramics, ranging from plain and simple to highly sophisticated designs.
It is no wonder that many artists are loading their ware cart and creating their own colorful and beautiful Mexican-inspired designs.
Traveling throughout Mexico you will find museum after museum lined with ceramics telling the story of Mexico's ancient history and illustrating the close relationship among mythical creatures, humans and animals.
On a Mexican street corner on any given afternoon you can observe local artists working with ceramics or perhaps fashioning on new wheel replacement parts before creating their latest work of art.
Young ceramic artists often flock to visitors to showcase their most recent pots and other ceramic creations.
Speaking Spanish is a most helpful tool when negotiating on a final price with the potter.
Many tourists return from Mexico with glassware such as margarita pitchers and glasses made in part with warm glass supplies, but return guests are often drawn year after year to the story and tradition of Mexican ceramics.
Just as the food changes as you travel across Mexico, you will experience a similar shift in ceramic style from town to town.
If you are looking for a nice piece of Mexican pottery to add to your home and inspire your next creation, the area of Amatenango del Valle offers an extensive selection of unglazed ceramics that are both beautiful and inexpensive.
Talavera is a popular type of pottery in Mexico and was named after a town in Spain that produces pottery very similar to the region.
In Puebla this particular style had been produced since ancient times.
Intricate floral designs and bright colors are often features of Talavera-style ceramics.
This process requires two firings.
Plants and platters are popular styles of the Talavera and frequently emulated across Mexico and abroad.
When visiting Oaxaca you will discover a variety of black, glossy and nearly weightless ceramics.
The majority of this style of pottery is made nearby in San Bartolo.
The type of regional ceramic product comes in many shapes and forms from elegance vases and other tableware to festive animal figures.
Firing the object in pit-kilns in the ground produces the end color.
This process reduces oxygen exposure and changes the iron oxide in the local clay to a black color.
Tlaquepaque and Guadalajara are two well-established pottery centers in Mexico.
Here many of the higher end ceramics pieces are made, including durable stoneware, which is fired at extremely high temperatures.
Many of the striking ceramics made in Mexico are heavily influenced by the pre-Hispanic era.