Tonalá burnished ceramics are an art form with an ancestral identity going back to pre-Hispanic times. In theory, with the Spanish arrival in the city of Tonalá, production of these objects, which were made by indigenous artists, was initially overseen by the Franciscans, being taken over by the Augustinians in 1573, and it was the latter Order that perfected the burnished ceramics technique. At first, these works were produced for the local market, but soon they started to be exported to the Old World, where they were extremely sought after, and by the 17th century there were various famous collections made up of such pieces from the New World. The type of clay used to make these jugs, or búcaros, which tended to be used for holding water, imbued the liquid with a delicious aroma and freshness that added to the innate beauty of the vessels themselves. Although it is hard to believe now, there was a widespread fashion in Spain whereby women would ingest small chunks of Tonalá clay and scrub their bare flesh with fragments of ceramic, as the clay was considered to have both gastronomical and medicinal properties that improved the complexion. This custom was known as bucarofagia.
