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We must now consider the finest pottery in Mexico,viz. the ware characteristic of Cholula and Tlaxcala, which seems to bear certain relations to that of Oaxaca on the one hand, and, though less obviously, to that of the Totonac region on the other. The fact that Cholula was recognized as the leading centre of pottery manufacture and exported its wares in considerable quantity in times preceding and up to the conquest, Fig. 39.—Polychrome pottery vase; Tlaxcalan or Cholulan style, found in Mexico city.
(After Seler) renders the distinction between local types difficult, especially as the Totonac region seems to have been affected by Mexican conquest, and to have furnished tribute in pots. The typical ware of Cholula and Tlaxcala is hard and reddish, very well-mixed and fired, and rarely shows a dark line in the centre of a fracture. Forms include standing-bowls and -cups, tripod bowls and vases, handled jugs, plates and bowls with a slightly flattened base. Footed beakers also occur, but I am inclined to regard this form as one adopted from the Totonac. The vases are usually covered with an even and highly burnished red or yellow slip, on which are painted designs in a variety of colours, red, yellow, white, grey and black (Pl. IX, 1, and Figs. 39 and 40). Geometrical and textile patterns are common, and also figures and emblems of gods and men, animals and plants. The treatment is often bold and free, and though at times the designs suffer from over-conventionalization, they are always highly decorative. Relief ornament is occasionally seen in the shape of in Mexico city.