Artifact Spotlight — Spanish Colonial Ceramic

Kristi Nichols, Director of Archaeology, Collections and Historical Research
August 19, 2019
Ceramic fragment with some green decorative color
Approx. Date of Artifact 1650s — 1725

Huejotzingo Wavy Band is a type of majolica ceramic that was manufactured in Puebla, Mexico, most likely in the municipality of Huejotzingo. This type of majolica exhibits a wavy band of decoration along the edge of the rim.

The most common decoration color of the type is blue, although green and yellow have been encountered as well. This fragment of Huejotzingo Wavy Band exhibits the green decoration. This type appears to have been common in Texas between 1775 and 1825, although it is believed it could have been manufactured as early as 1760.

Huejotzingo Wavy Band has been encountered at all five of the missions in San Antonio, as well as other Spanish Colonial sites in Texas, such as Mission Espiritu Santo, Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, and Spanish Colonial sites in Florida and California.