Type Name:

MEXICO CITY BLUE ON CREAM

Category:

MAJOLICA

Production Origin:

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Production Date Range:

1540-1650

Defining Attributes:

Paste is pinkish-tan, untempered and granular.

Background enamel is deep cream or yellow-tinted, thinly applied and subject to wear, pinholing and crawling.

Designs are painted in washed-out cobalt blue, with motifs including palmettes, loops, fronds, and groups of slanted parallel lines or dashes separated by dots or lobes.

Vessel Forms:

BOWL
CANDLE HOLDER
PLATO

Comments:

Mexico City Blue on Cream is part of the Mexico City common ware majolica tradition that came into production around 1540. It appears outside of Mexico only rarely, and in Florida only after about 1575.

Published Definitions:

Lister and Lister 1982; Deagan 2002