Copper Aztec Calendar HQ

Artisan

Mario Fabricio Romero Hernandez

The fist time I saw a Talavera Toilet I was very  impressed by the beauty and uniqueness of it, immediately I made my mind to find the creator of such a beautiful work. After several months I found Mario in a small town in central Mexico, in the state of Guanajuato. I will let Mario’s own words to describe his humble beginning up to his complete toilets factory now days:

“I learned the Talavera technique from my father and I had the initiative to start painting toilets, about 15 years ago, at that time I would have to get the toilet in a raw state, painted and then send it back to the factory to have it burn. People from all over started to come and ask me to paint their specific designs, slowly the clientele grow and  I was able to expand and started making the toilets myself, hiring other friends and family to help me”.

Today Mario’s small shop has grown to a full toilet factory where he can manufacture them from scratch. This is a big must when producing talavera hand painted toilets, the artwork must be done at a the “raw” state of the toilet, previous to be glazed and burned at the high temp ovens. Some lower quality hand painted toilets are done after glazed, in this case the paint will fade in not time. But with Mario’s full manufacture process your talavera toilet will keep its paint with not signs of fading for the life time of your toilet.

Mario’s philosophy is one of the reasons I’ve being very happy to work with him, here are its own words:

“My main Motivation has always been to give the best I have to please the client so I am constantly searching for ways to improve techniques and qualities, as well as creating new designs. Our ever increasing creative design’s motifs range from a wide variety of plain colors to the pre-Hispanic, colonial, and ethnic motifs. In the process to create a Talavera Toilet, we basically use ceramic pastes and clay and we recycle all the wasting materials.

I am proud to have generated more than 30 jobs among my neighbors and friends. My dream since I was a kid has been to improve the quality of the crafts made in my town and to be acknowledged as one of the best artisans in Mexico.”

Here is a more detailed description of the making of these beautiful Talavera Toilets:

“Each toilet is made from an special clay (arcilla), then shaped in molds and allowed to dry naturally, the process takes around 10 days. When dry, the pieces are delicate and need sanding and firing to prepare them for the decorative process.

Pieces are first coated with white enamel and then painted individually, always by hand, sometimes aided by plastic stencils. The pieces come to life with strikingly rich colors when they are fired for 5 hours at a temperature of 1100° Celsius (2012° Fahrenheit) in the kiln.

Mario Romero says: “we only fire the kiln once a day. It takes approximately 30 minutes for it to come to the proper temperature. Once closed, we need to wait for the next day to fire it again.”

I’m sure you will be surprise of the beauty of these toilets; once you receive your package and unwrap it a big surprise awaits you. I have try to make honor to his work by taking the best pictures possible, but even that will not give true honor to these amazing creations. Enjoy your unique piece of art and be ready to surprise your guests.

Thank you in the name of Mario Fabricio, his family and artisans that work with him.