In 1521, the Aztec Empire fell to the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez.  The Spaniards called the conquest “New Spain”, what we now know as Mexico.  They brought with them their own traditions and beliefs including their specific forms of pottery.

San Luis Blue on White ware dates approximately from the later 1500’s to the later 1600’s.  It has a compact texture and is found in two distinct paste colors- a reddish color and one cream to almost white color.  The reddish color paste is the most common of the early examples found.  By 1660, the two colors are basically equal in frequency.  After that, the red color declines and eventually disappears leaving only the white.  Archaeologists do not know for sure where this type of pottery was manufactured.  They tend to believe, by comparison to other forms, that the reddish paste was from the Mexico City area and that manufacture gradually turned to Puebla where the white paste was used extensively (Deagan 1987:75).

This form was wheel thrown and evidence of scarring suggests that it was fired three times (Goggin 1968:154).  It was not dipped, but the surface was covered in opaque enamel.  On the reddish paste it is thick, but on the cream paste it may, on occasion, be very thin, showing the paste (Goggin 1968:155).  The cream paste ware seems to have a slightly glossier finish.

The vessels were painted in a dull blue to grayish tone with some later vessels having yellow or black designs on an off-white background.  The designs on the base of plates had complex floral patterns with stylish leaves, half-circles and dots.  The rim had a band with designs in dots and broad lines.

 The most common vessels found were shards of deep-brimmed plates but fragments of small bowls have also been noted.  The plates were approximately 9 inches in diameter at the rim and all had about a 3½ inch ring foot without enamel.  Their thickness was more than average, compared to other types of the same era, with the rim tapering somewhat from the body.  The lip was rounded and thin.  There were no inscriptions or marks noted with this type of pottery (Goggin 1968:157).

San Luis Blue on White ware can be found widely throughout Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Cuba (Deagan 1987:75).  In the United States, it is found in Florida, New Mexico and Arizona (Goggin 1968:157).  It is not a common form found, but has a long historical span and is found with many other types, but no particular linkage can be found.

References:

Deagan, Kathleen A.  Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean 1500-1800.  Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987.

Goggin, John M.  Spanish Majolica in the New World.  New Haven: Department of Anthropology Yale University, 1968.

Written by: Scott Anderson.