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Pre-Hispanic ceramic vessel on display at the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City

Modern pottery and ceramics from different areas of Mexico at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City

Ceramics and pottery in Mexico date back thousands of years before the Pre-Columbian period, when ceramic arts and pottery crafts developed with the first advanced civilizations and cultures of Mesoamerica. With one exception, pre-Hispanic wares were not glazed, but rather burnished and painted with colored fine clay slips.

The potter's wheel was unknown as well; pieces were shaped by molding, coiling, and other methods.

Pottery-making has always been an important activity in Santa María Atzompa since it was founded between the 7th and 9th centuries just north of the Zapotec city of Monte Albán. The name Atzompa means high water mark in the Nahuatl language.

Today most of the population is involved in pottery-making and most of the pottery is sold in Oaxaca.

This village of potters is one of the most popular destinations in Oaxaca's Central Valley and travelers are encouraged to spend time at the family workshops as well as at the Mercado de Artesanias on the main road entering the village.

The first pottery produced was of the gray type typical of the region. Lead glazing was introduced in the 16th century and Atzompa became an important producer of ceramics shipping to other parts of Mexico and the United States.

17 or 18th century Puebla pottery plate on display at the Museum of Artes Populares in Mexico City

The best-selling pottery in the city, and in fact, the state of Oaxaca is the traditional green-glazed ceramics. The traditional ceramic is used for salsa bowls and containers for chocolate.

Fanciful designs include bowls shaped as iguanas and turkeys.

Atzompa pottery is both decorative and utilitarian.

Green jar of Santa Maria Atzompa at Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca

Santa Maria Atzompa in the state of Oaxaca is Oaxaca’s largest pottery village with more than 1,000 working potters. Among the potters are a number of innovative artists.

Of note is Dolores Porras, who along with her husband Alfredo, pioneered a painted ceramics style in the late 1960s. Vases and dishes of every conceivable size are adorned with figures.

Large pottery jar with lilies by Juana Morales Velazco of Santa Maria Atzompa on display at Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico

Sound: Plácido Domingo – El triste; Adios Mariquita linda

México

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