Ceramic 7-Inch Soup Bowls from Mexico (Pair), "Zacatlan Flowers"

Flowers blossom with an exuberant feast of colors on soup bowls designed in the Talavera style of the state of Puebla. The motifs are painted by hand over the ivory-color ceramic bowls with a palette that includes yellow-orange, blue, and green flowers over a crisscross network of dots and crosses. Bordered by a black honeycomb, this pair of bowls comes from the 'Zacatlán Flowers' collection designed by Pedro Tecayehuatl.

Talavera is a distinctive art form brought to Mexico by artisans from Talavera de la Reina, Spain. The ceramic artisans of Puebla, Mexico then incorporated Chinese designs, thus creating the blue and oyster-white patterns traditionally associated with Talavera Poblana. Today there are also more "contemporary" designs that include yellow, green, orange, mauve, black and red.

National and international conventions require that a rigorous procedure be followed in the elaboration of authentic Talavera-style ceramics. Each individual piece will be slightly different, and therefore a unique work of art.