Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9511010001
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: G-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUZANNE MURPHY-LARRONDE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
More than 300 stores, studios and workshops jam the compact seven-square-block area that is greater Tlaquepaque, a quick 15-minute drive to the southeast of the state capital, Guadalajara. Ceramics and later glassware were the town's early drawing cards, but today artisans work in media as diverse as stone, leather, paper, fabric, metal and wood.
From the smallest pre-Columbian figurine to the most elaborately carved colonial bench, there's something here for just about every taste and pocketbook. But if you're just browsing, you'll still find rewards in the visual feast of color, form and design that epitomizes the best of Mexican craft and architecture.
Practically every day is market day in prosperous Tlaquepaque, but unlike other areas of the country where goods are spread about in open air plazas or covered emporiums, artisans operate from centuries-old colonial homes, graceful reminders of the days when this area served as a summer playground for Guadalajara's wealthy merchant class. Best of all, many of these same outlets maintain adjoining workshops which are open to viewing by the public.
Step to the shaded rear patio of Alfareria El Porvenir (208 Independencia), for example, to watch the busy goings-on. Pious angels and other nativity scene characters dry patiently under sunny skies, but the small factory's best creations are its large, handsomely finished pots made from a mix of three local clays. In 1821, at this same colonial house, still known as La Casa Historica, Mexico's independence was secured with the signing of the Plan de Iguala.
First and foremost a ceramic center, Tlaquepaque has hundreds of other potters working in some 10 techniques including several which date back to the early Tonaltecan Indians. Among the most distinctive is a labor intensive style known as "petatillo" in which animals and plants are handpainted in black against a backdrop of intricate, white crosshatching. This traditional glazed ware is available mainly in platters and straight sided pitchers.
Glassmaking, introduced by Europeans in the 1870s, can be seen at La Rosa de Crystal (232 Independencia) where glaziers mold red-hot globs into pitchers, stemware, glasses and figures with the help of steel blowing pipes. At Crystal's other small factory across from El Refugio Cultural Center, visitors can also view intriguing handblown glass items known as "esferas" or spheres, once used as fishing net floats. Today, metal oxides are added to give them cobalt blue, green, amber or red tones. Later their interiors are coated with liquid silver for use as lustrous Christmas decorations.
Mexican arts and crafts have reached new levels of elegance and sophistication in decorator stores like La Casa Canela (258 Independencia), alone worth the visit for a view of this magnificently restored 18th-century mansion. Twenty-one rooms and multiple patios overflow with the inspired works of 650 artisans and include a host of utilitarian objects to adorn the home in a range of sizes, shapes, materials and prices.
The seven Canela brothers, with shops in several other cities, collaborate with talented artisans in 18 Mexican states to rescue forgotten techniques and promote arts and crafts in general by adapting and enriching them with new treatments and designs. La Casa Canela produces affordable replicas of baroque furniture and ecclesiastical carvings plus statues, fountains and columns of sculpted limestone and affordable copies of elaborate 150-year-old silver frames.
This store and a dozen others, like the lovely Bazar Hecht, also feature traditional items which have been assigned modern uses such as the elaborately handcarved doors that now pose as coffee tabletops. Or they update items employing new design touches such as the classic leather covered furniture known as "equipales." These handsome chairs and couches, said to have originated in the state of Jalisco, now come luxuriously upholstered in a variety of handwoven Mexican fabrics.
If you tire of shopping, take time out for a closer look at Tlaquepaque itself, a small town composed of neat one- and two-story adobe buildings with its own hotels, restaurants, fire station, library and bullfighting ring. Restored with great panache several decades ago, many of the colonial facades have been painted in vibrant pinks, yellows and electric blues and still others in earthy browns, burnt oranges and golds.
Not to be missed, is the former hacienda-turned-Regional Ceramics Museum (237 Independencia) with its mysterious cypress gardens and classic patio dating back to the 1850s. Its nine exhibit rooms display choice pieces of pre-Hispanic, colonial and contemporary pottery from the surrounding Atemajac Valley including a scented variety known as "barro de olor", said to be unique to this region of Mexico.
But the museum's most riveting attraction is Jesus Carranza, who uses one window-lighted room as his sometime studio. Part of a celebrated family of miniaturists, this master artist creates his pint-sized cast of characters from hand-molded clay and attires them in painted garments for his scenes of baptisms, weddings, bullfights and "charreadas" or rodeos.
Back out in the sunlight, take in tranquil Hidalgo Square, Tlaquepaque's central gathering place, with its manicured gardens, fountains and arched bandstand where Sunday concerts are the rule. Nearby San Pedro Church, completed by the Franciscans in 1813, is worth a look for its Byzantine-influenced altar dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico' sixth most-revered patron saint. The town's other church, Our Lady of Solitude, has a neoclassic facade and dates from 1878.
But now it's time for El Parian, Tlaquepaque's musical heart and the place where "tapatios" (Guadalajara natives) and visitors have been gathering for more than a century to enjoy mariachis and fine dining. About a dozen restaurants and bars are clustered among the arcades of this blocklong courtyard and the idea is to take a seat (in a comfortable "equipal," of course), order up a "chabela" or mug of cold beer and enjoy some delicious Mexican food. On weekends in particular, the mariachis and romantic trios are out in force performing their repetoires that can easily exceed several hundred songs per group.
Tlaquepaque celebrates its colorful annual handicraft fair in June with nearly 200 craft and food stands, an inaugural parade, mariachi entertainment and horse racing. Several big events mark the monthlong festivities including a national ceramic competition, the celebration of New Galicia's independence and the birthday of patron saint, San Pedro.
If time permits, visit the neighboring craft town of Tonola, also known for its marvelous pottery. An outdoor market, said to be Mexico's largest, is held on Thursdays and Sundays. The wares may be cheaper than Tlaquepaque, but watch out for seconds. Among the stars here are ceramicist Jorge Wilmot, Ken Edwards and the Bernabe family of Galeria Bernabe, Hidalgo 83.
Suzanne Murphy-Larrond is a free-lance travel writer based in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
by CNB