Hunterdon County Couple Opens a New Business Importing Mexican Pottery, Glass, Copper, and Jewelry

Shortly after they met, Tom Travers and Sharon Gonzalez-Travers discovered they shared a love for all things Mexican. Their mutual passion soon led them to San Miguel de Allende, a colonial city in the mountains of central Mexico, where they came to appreciate the distinctive designs of pottery, jewelry, glassware and kitchenware made by local artists.

Lebanaon Township, NJ (PRWEB) January 24, 2011

Shortly after they met, Tom Travers and Sharon Gonzalez-Travers discovered they shared a love for all things Mexican. Their mutual passion soon led them to San Miguel de Allende, a colonial city in the mountains of central Mexico, where they came to appreciate the distinctive designs of pottery, jewelry, glassware and kitchenware made by local artists.

“We became obsessed together,” Tom said, “and began to develop an interest in the local artwork.”

That obsession has turned into a new business, Talaverica, a name taken from the popular style of Mexican pottery known as Talavera. The couple now sells, in addition to the brightly colored pottery, recycled hand-blown glassware, copper bowls and sinks and handmade silver jewelry.

Their life as entrepreneurs started with Tom's post-9/11 trip to Spain. In the spring of 2002, Tom, a Captain in the Yonkers fire department, N.Y., set out to run with the bulls in Pamplona with a group of fellow firefighters. When he returned home, he began researching bull runs and learned it was a common practice throughout the Spanish-speaking world. When he saw that San Miguel de Allende would soon be having its own run of the bulls, he set out for Mexico.

When Tom and Sharon (a former public school teacher) met a few years later, he wanted to introduce her to the magical city that he'd discovered four hours north of Mexico City (never mind that several thousand Americans already lived in San Miguel de Allende). They were married in 2007, in a ceremony in an old hacienda in Dolores Hidalgo, a nearby city of 55,000 known primarily for its ceramics industry. Tom's family came from New York, Sharon's from her native England. The wedding guests went home laden with platters, bowls, and trays, all made by hand in Dolores Hidalgo and nearby villages. The seeds were sown for their future business.

Since then Tom and Sharon have made many return trips to the 500-year-old towns of colonial Mexico—a part of the country, they said, that most Americans overlook. Last summer they visited Taxco, about 100 miles southwest of Mexico City, and marveled at the abundance of local silversmiths.

“There's more to Mexico than beaches,” Tom said. “The Spaniards built these cities all over the place 500 years ago. You go into these towns and villages, one village will be a silver-making village. You go down the street to another village and they're all making copper. Another village might be making furniture.”

Today Tom and Sharon sell most of their goods over the Internet, aided by a new web site (talaverica.com) touting “treasures from colonial Mexico.” The Talavera pottery—plates, bowls, and mugs—are lead-free and dishwasher- and microwave-safe. The copper pieces, made by a family with generations of expertise, are individually hand-hammered from 100 percent recycled copper.

In addition to the web site, Talaverica products are available at Flowers by the River in Califon and at private home parties. Anyone wishing to host a home party can contact Tom and Sharon through the web site.