Located some sixty miles southeast of Mexico City, Puebla de los Angeles was colonial Mexico’s principal center for glazed pottery from the late 1500s. The mark "he" on this jar and on a nearly identical example at the Hispanic Society of America in New York is attributed to Damián Hernández, a master potter and cofounder of the Puebla potter’s guild. Informed by diverse artistic influences of Western, Islamic, and Asian origin (Mexico was on Spain’s trade route with China), the decoration on this outstanding example of Puebla ware includes a European woman in a chariot, Chinese figures, and human and animal forms filled with dots, a motif first introduced to Spain by Muslim potters. Jack Hinton, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014, p.252.

The production of glazed pottery was one of the earliest and most developed industries of New Spain, as colonial Mexico was called. The principal center of production was Puebla de los Angeles, south of Mexico City. The technique used to produce Mexican glazed pottery is the same seen in Italian maiolica, French faience, and Dutch Delftware. The "he" inscribed on this jar with handles is perhaps the mark of Damian Hernández, a craftsman of Spanish descent who was inspector for the potters' guild at Puebla in l653. Mexican artists drew from many design traditions--Asian as well as European, since Mexico was on Spain's trade route with China. The freedom Mexican artists exercised is seen at its best in this vase, which juxtaposes a European woman in a chariot, a host of Chinese figures, and humans and animals filled with dots after the Islamic custom for indicating living figures. This vibrant creation unites worlds of art in one object. Dean Walker, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections (1995), p. 56.