Clay Pots. Value of water and exaltation of the senses in the 17th and 18th centuries

Between the aroma of fired clay and the elegance of viceroyal art, the Museum of America presents an exhibition from 23 May to 19 October that explores the fascinating universe of these ceramic objects, which transcended their everyday use to become great emblems.

Curated by its director, Andrés Gutiérrez Usillos, the exhibition focuses on one of the most peculiar cultural and aesthetic phenomena of the Baroque world: the use, consumption and symbolism of the so-called clay pots, pieces of fine pottery from the Americas and Europe.

These pieces, made out of red clay and decorated with creamy engobes, gold leaf, blue and red paint, were appreciated not only for their beauty, but also for the properties they bestowed on the water, keeping it fresh and giving it flavour and aroma.

They were produced in pottery centres in New Galicia, Cuautitlan, Chile, Portugal and Extremadura, among others. In addition to their practical function, clay pots acquired a strong symbolic component: they were associated with female refinement, religiousness, collecting and, in some cases, even with rituals involving the ingestion of clay.