Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. Puebla is a major city in central Mexico, located about 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Mexico City and is also a prominent Mexican center of pottery production that employs the technique of tin-enameled earthenware, known in Europe as maiolica. This technique produces a hard opaque white glaze, which serves as a background for colorful, enamel-painted designs. The name Talavera alludes to the city of Talavera de la Reina, the major producer of colorful maiolica in Spain from the sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century.
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