POTTERY AND PORCELAIN.

many of the designs found on the old majolica and tiles of
Spain and Mexico. His work is characterized by consci-
entious adherence to the spirit of the originals, and some
of his large plaques, in Hispano-Moresque style, are espe-
cially praiseworthy. Sefior Ventosa's reproductions are so
characteristic in treatment that they can be distinguished
without difficulty from the older pieces which served as
his models (Ill. 326).
It is probable that the first majolica tiles used for mural
decoration in Mexico were brought from Spain, but before
the close of the sixteenth century the tile industry became
well established in Puebla, and the native tile-makers from
that time on were abundantly able to fill the requirements
of the home market. Not only did they produce geomet-
rical and conventional patterns of great variety (at first in
blue and later in polychrome), but they employed compe-
tent artists who painted pictures and figure subjects on
large panels composed of numerous small tiles, for in-
sertion in the exterior and interior walls of buildings.
Little is known of the history of the early tile manufac-
tories of Puebla.  That they were numerous may be
inferred from the great variety of divergent styles shown
in the tiles which have been preserved.  Among the
earliest are those blue and white tiles, some of which date
back to about 1575, with conventional and geometrical
patterns, in Talavera style.  Some of those produced
between 1650 and 1700 reflect strongly the Chinese taste,
by means of figures of mandarins, animals, and birds, rudely
reserved in white on a brilliant dark-blue ground.
While the great majority of the tile designs of Puebla

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