Tag Archive for: factory

Santa

Europe’s oldest ceramics factory

The Sant’Anna factory – established in 1741 – is Europe’s oldest ceramics factory, renowned for producing traditional Portuguese hand-painted tiles (azulejos) and ceramics, using entirely handcrafted methods.

Sant’Anna was born in the neighbourhood of Lapa and initially produced bricks. In 1755, after the apocalyptic earthquake (terramoto) – that completely whipped out the lowest part of the capital – the factory began to produce tiles to cover the facades of the buildings and help in the rehabilitation of the capital.

It’s been 125 years since the factory moved to Calçada de Boa Hora in the Ajuda district, a clayey area where the raw material was easily extracted and where the artisanal production of tiles and ceramics could be continued.

‘Our collections, nowadays, are mainly reproductions of the 18th century’, says Mariana Felício, graphic designer in the newspaper Público, ‘but of course we do everything the client wants because when we talk about manual work, we can make things a machine cannot.’

For the production of the traditional Portuguese tiles -without relief – a roller, a mold, and a knife are used. ‘The process is similar to that of making Christmas cookies’, says Mariana. ‘With the roller, the clay is pressed on the table, placed in an eight-millimetre gauge, which is the thickness of the traditional tile, and cut one by one with our square mold and knife.

After four to six weeks of drying, the tiles are ready to go the oven for a first two-day cooking at 1100 °C.  After cooling down the next stap is made by a single person, who focuses on listening to the tiles one by one to find out if the tile is good or not to be glazed and painted, explains Mariana.

‘To do this, you hit the tile with a small piece of wood. If a metallic noise sounds, the tile is in good condition. On the other hand, if the tile has a more hollow sound, it means there are air bubbles inside that can lead to breaking in the next cooking step.’

‘Sometimes, the artist works seven, eight hours just on one tile. What happens is that we will waste eight hours of the artist’s work if the tile is not good. That’s why it is important to do this type of – most traditional and original possible – test before proceeding to glazing, painting and firing up the oven again.’

Today, 85% of the production is exported abroad, mainly to the US. In addition to private customers – who make up the majority – the factory also works with architects and interior designers on projects such as hotels ( the Ritz, for example) and requalification of buildings.  

Visitors can observe artisans crafting tiles using traditional techniques and purchase pieces ranging from classic 18th century designs to contemporary styles. The factory (www.santanna.com.pt) also offers tile painting classes.

Enjoy your week                             Approveite a semana

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Vista-Alegre

‘Porcelain is essentially made of kaolin, sand and the mineral feldspar’

Vista Alegre – the country’s most famous porcelain brand – celebrates its 200th anniversary.
The factory in Ílhavo, founded in 1824 by José Ferreira Pinto Basto, has remained relevant for two centuries thanks to its quality, ability to reinvent itself and focus on the future.
 

An exhibition celebrating the bicentennial can be found in the Ajuda palace in Lisbon, where even today tableware from Vista Alegre is used in state dinners. ‘We not only want to show the finished products, that represent the history of Vista Alegre, but also elements from the factory itself, such as the carts in which the pieces are waiting to go into the oven or the moulds’, says Filipa Oliveira, who shares with Anísio Franco the curatorship.
  

‘Many Portuguese have a close relationship with Vista Alegre porcelain because it passed through their homes’ argues Anísio Franco, warning future visitors about the possibility that there are few pieces they will recognize.

The Vista Alegre factory initially began by manufacturing utilitarian objects in glass, such as jars and bowls but always with a quality that can be seen in the execution and decoration. In 1880 it discontinues glass production and starts dedicating itself exclusively to the manufacturing of porcelain, of greater importance to the national industry.

The first pieces were of imperfect soft paste porcelain, called ‘stone powder’ crockery. To produce high-quality porcelain, a clay capable of supporting the fusion of components was essential: kaolin. In 1832 a white clay – until that time used to whitewash homes – was accidentally discovered that later proved to be the sought-after kaolin.

The factory then hires specialized craftsman and accomplished painters and the factory establishes itself in the 19th century as a producer of true porcelain executed to tremendous perfection. Victor Rousseau, a prestigious French draftsman and painter who was exiled in England, is hired and gives the factory its own directive. He founds the factory’s first School of Painting responsible for teaching generations of masters to uphold the high level of artistry.

‘It is very important to know the genealogy of the masters of Vista Alegre to perceive each production period (f.e. neoclassical forms or already romanticism)’, says Anísio Franco. ‘Each one brought knowledge and taste of their own that marked what came out of the factory.’

In the 80s, a partnership with the businesswoman and collector Mildred Mottahedeh gives Vista Alegre access to the North American market, allowing the company to make pieces for the White House and the Rockefeller family.

This year, Portugal’s most famous player in the history of football– Christano Ronaldo – bought 10% of the capital of Vista Alegre with the aim of extending the company in the Middle East, where Ronaldo is playing nowadays.

The turnover of Vista Alegre in 2023 amounted to 130 million euros.
Seventy percent of the production is exported, especially to Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the US and Brazil.

The exhibition brings together 400 pieces and can be seen at the Ajuda Palace in Lisbon, until May 31.

Enjoy the week                                        Aproveite a semana     

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