Tonalá búcaro

Búcaros signified early modern wealth and health in Iberia, Italy and Flanders (although one of the largest extant collections is at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). Búcaros from Tonalá, Nata, Chilean and Estremoz surfaced repeatedly in early modern still-life paintings as representations of grandee splendour. Grandees and fashionable urbanites consumed clay (allegedly from Armenia but actually from Estremoz) as pastries wrapped with the seal of the Sultan. Sultan pastries were morsels that resembled rosary beads, made of clay mixed with flour, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, bergamot oil (extract from the rind of oranges), vanilla, amber and musk. This was the early modern contraceptive pill for the rich and pale. When baked and ingested, it was capable of lowering blood iron levels, causing paleness and halting menstruation. Brothels had prostitutes ingest Tonalá and Estremoz clay for birth control. The Tonalá búcaros of Guadalajara were considered the best for avoiding pregnancy. Búcaros allowed the water inside to evaporate while creating a wonderful aroma in the atmosphere. The remaining water in the jug would become refreshingly cold, partaking of the aroma of the special clays. Búcaros were perfumed humidifiers. It is very likely that the production of búcaros was first introduced by Franciscan friars who arrived in the town of Tonalá in the wake of Nuño de Guzmán’s conquest of Nueva Galicia in 1530. Tonalá was the political indigenous centre of the region and the first capital of Nuño de Guzmán’s new kingdom. It was also a pre-Hispanic centre of pottery production.