Handpainted ceramics

Brand: Raúl da Bernarda Alcobaça

Made in: Portugal

Condition: Brand new (never used)

Stockist: Porto, Portugal

History: Raul da Bernarda is the oldest ceramics factory in Alcobaça. It was established in 1975 by an artifice of Coimbra, named José dos Reis. This small industry introduced the tableware in Alcobaça according to Coimbra’s style and tradition, techniques and decorative motifs such as landscapes with castles and English style equestrian statues, which were shown in major industrial productions, such as the Real Fábrica de Sacavém. Manuel Ferreira da Bernarda, its owner from 1900 to the final decade of 1920, followed the same line, and was responsible for the development of production, with the supply of the local market. Under the management of his son, Raúl da Bernarda, from 1930, the factory acquired a new and crucial creative and artistic impulse, caused not only by the dynamism of its manager but also by the ceramic painters’ team. They marked the regional and national decorative art by expanding Alcobaças’s artistic ceramics and selling abroad under the brand Raúl da Bernarda & Filhos Lda. Raúl da Bernarda & Filhos Lda. with over a century of activity and expansion, celebrated the year 2000 with the opening of a Museum. In May 2008, the company closed its doors and started the insolvency process, ceasing to produce ceramics. The Museum is still open to the public, proving the importance of the ceramics heritage in the city.