She handed it to me so casually as if she was handing me a piece of mail. I eagerly accepted and said: "You don't want it?". She shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "I don't like knick-knacks, you do." True...can't argue with that one...You got me there...
For the record, I don't have a clear memory of ever self-disclosing this information to her, but being a skilled studier of human behavior, herself, she must have picked up on my frequent trips to Goodwill as well as my rants and ravings about this blog and all the great deals I find (And someday am determined to learn how to sell).
Well, this cute little bowl, was free to me, and per my friend, a re-gift from her friend (We won't tell). Her well-meaning friend had obviously not picked up on the fact that she wasn't a knick-knack girl. The friend had picked this up in Mexico and my friend said it could be "Talavera." Tala-what? You know, Mexican pottery.
Wikipedia has some good information and basically says that authentic Talavera has to be made in Puebla, Mexico or surrounding areas. In addition, there's a certification process that needs to occur for something to be authentic "Talavera". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talavera_(pottery).
Another blog post says: "If the piece does not have a signature from the shop that created it at the base, and does not say that it is from Puebla, it is not authentic."
This is from Ashley at
http://borderculturebeat.blogspot.com/2007/10/talavera-pottery.html.
I'm guessing this piece here is not authentic, unless the "Lead Free Mexico" shop is an authentic Talavera workshop in Puebla, Mexico.
Nevertheless, it was fun to research and learn about Talavera. I will keep my eyes open now for real Talavera at my favorite thrift stores, since I'm now an expert (sense sarcasm).
But actually since starting this blog, I have been intentionally working to learn more about the knick-knacks I find, buy, love, and hoard/don't sell.
I think my friend's observation about my liking knick-knacks speaks to a deeper truth about my identity (Do enlighten us)...I think that one of the reasons I love knick-knacks is because they represent cultural heritage and identity. The knick-knacks speak about our ancestors and therefore give us clues to our own identity. Being identity challenged on some levels, I find it fascinating to aborb new information about myself through stuff, or as I am wont to call it, crap.
I think the love of knick-knacks is also somewhat in my DNA on the cellular level (Am I being redundant; I'm not a geneticist) however I do wonder if I may be a carrier not only of certain family diseases (yippee) but also of knick-knack-adoration, you know KKA. It must live somewhere on the 8th chromosome. I've mentioned before how my grandmother loved and collected knick-knakcs, many of which I have inherited. My aunt as well has a large collection of knick-knacks while maintaining a very organized home. The knick-knacks are all given their place and are all accounted for. If one went missing, she would know.
Growing up my mom would collect Christmas tree decorations and at first it was hard for someone as practical as my gradeschool self to understand why people would collect things that you only use for 5 months out of the year (Yikes; I admit we stretch the Christmas season out for as long as we can). Needless to say, I get it now. Christmas decorations are a timeline, a tangible, seasonal, scrapbook of experiences and moments and instead of gluing them into a scrapbook or attaching them to a shadowbox, they hang on a tree, with lights, candycanes, and burlap. Duh!
Needless to say, I have too many decorations to collect anymore, although I'd be lying to say the temptation wasn't there.
I found something on Pinterest the other day that I'm going to try and make...what? I'm going off on a tangent. That's a red flag that I need to stop typing...and I will right after I conclude. Goodbye.
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