500 ANOS DE TALAVERA/ED. ALFREDO ROMERO

摘要

Talavera: the most productive of all the ceramic centers of Spain, home to hundreds of master potters and artisans' families and focal point of a multitude of supporting trades. For five hundred years, pottery has been the life-blood of Talavera. From here has come earthenware in astounding variety. Or every level of Spanish society, from the scullery, the tavern, the worker's cottage to the pharmacy, the high table, the virgin's shrine and the altar. Also uncountable quantities of tiles: tiles for floors, for corridors, arches, staircases, graves, bridges, towers, facades, church murals, and name tiles for houses, shops, streets and public places. This splendid book was produced to accompany the major exhibition of Talavera wares held in Muel in the spring of this year. One is immediately struck by the superb illustrations. They capture the bite of the pigment, the liquidity of the glaze and the verve of the figures and ornament. (How different the Spanish aesthetic is from the Italian maiolica.) Whether or not one can read the Spanish text, the book is of great value for the pictures alone.