Mexico Aztec pottery

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México
Aztec pottery
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We know a lot about ancient Aztec pottery because
of a curious tradition that was followed - at the
end of every 52 year cycle, all household goods
were destroyed.  So archaeologists are able to
understand changes in pottery with much greater
accuracy.
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Model of the interior of a simple Aztec house,
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Every Aztec/Mexica household, however poor, would
have owned some pottery essential were a large
jar for storing water and pots for cooking beans
and soaking maize kernels in overnight.
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Rough and plain, basic kitchenware was made by
non-specialists, who also hand made (for
wealthier families) plates, serving bowls,
goblets, cocoa jugs, sauce dishes and more. The
Mexica had access to an abundance of
finely-textured clay, orange-coloured after
firing, and they wasted none of it.
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There was a unity of culture in central Mexico,
and there were several production facilities that
created the pottery in various regions
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Cholula became famous for its elaborate pottery,
and it was said that Moctezuma II demanded to eat
only off of Cholula dinnerware!  Bernal Díaz del
Castillo tells us that it was all red or black.
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Pottery making has been called the greatest New
World craft (George Vaillant) - perhaps no other
continent has such a complex range of form and
design
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Sahumador or incense burner. The symbol of the
Smoking Mirror (Tezcatlipoca) is painted on the
top of the handle. The handle itself is in the
form of another symbol of Tezcatlipoca, the
turkey claw. British Museum
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British Museum, London
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Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.
British Museum, London
The potterys wheel was unknown and the craftsmen
were ignorant of glazes. All pottery was
hand-made, but although the coarse domestic wares
could have been produced by non-specialists
(perhaps, in country districts, by the farmers
during the slack season of the year) the finest
vessels, with their varied shapes, thin walls,
and tasteful decoration, could only have been
made by experts who had undergone a proper
apprenticeship Professor Warwick Bray)
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Aztec Copal Burner
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The Aztecs, lacking the wheel, built up their
vessels with strips of clay, relying on their
keen eye and sensitive fingers to achieve the
desired shape (Vaillant). By the end of the 15th
century the coarse, heavy, crude productions had
given way to thinner, more delicate objects
bearing more sophisticated designs, as fine as
any ever made in the Americas.
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This collection of ancient style pottery comes
from the Central West part of Mexico  and is
representative of how pottery was made in the
ancient times.  It is all beautifully hand
crafted and hand painted.
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México
Background Caracol, mexican rug Text
Pictures Internet Copyright All the images
belong to their authors Presentation Sanda
Foisoreanu
2012
Sound RAIZ VIVA - Los Folkloristas