Representing Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware production since the 16th century, ceramics is one of the Soares dos Reis National Museum’s most important collections, both in terms of the number of pieces and their significance.
Among the many works making up this collection, northern Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware predominates, particularly from Viana do Castelo, Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. From other regions, ceramics from Coimbra, Lisbon (Rato) and those attributed to Aveiro are similarly outstanding. The collection also includes three other valuable groups: Dutch Delft tin-glazed earthenware (17th and 18th century pieces); Chinese and Japanese porcelain (16th to 20th century), and European porcelain (19th and 20th century). The porcelain collection consists mostly of Chinese pieces from various periods, ranging from the Jiajing period (Ming dynasty – 16th century), to the 19th century.
Other pieces related to those shown in the long-term exhibition are kept in reserve, as well as other sections relating to the 20th century. The collection also includes the donation of João Castel Branco Pereira and Paulo Henriques, as well as a particularly fine set of ceramics by the German sculptor and painter, Hein Semke (1899-1995).
In the middle of the 16th century, the manufacture of faience began in Portugal with the settlement of Flemish potters in Lisbon. Modern Mannerist influences, coming from Flanders and Italy, were felt in these first productions, but also in the following decades.
This Virgin and Child, a rare typology in the faience collections of national museums, refers to a tradition of Italian ceramic sculpture that recalls the extraordinary works from the workshop of Andrea della Robbia or Santi Buglioni.
This exquisite table service in the European tradition is an interesting testimony to a time of cultural change, combining the rococo with the then modern neoclassical style.
The rococo style is reflected in its decoration, filled with Chinese landscapes; as is the neoclassical, through Greek ornamentation and golden festoons, as well as the shapes of some pieces, particularly the tureens (imitating classical urns).
The service belonged to António de São José de Castro (1741-1814), Bishop of Porto at the time of the Peninsular War, whose coat of arms it bears. Other pieces from this table service can be found in various museums and private collections in Portugal and abroad.
This is one of two large Ming dynasty pots, from the Jiajing period (1522-1567), belonging to the large porcelain group, making up a third of the Soares dos Reis National Museum ceramics’ collection. Among the oldest pieces are the aforementioned pots, several plates and a 16th century bowl.
This group has Chinese pieces ranging from the 16th to the 19th century that are outstanding for their quality and quantity.
Aquarium in the shape of an inverted pyramid supported by four dolphin-shaped feet and glass walls.
This model was also produced in the Real Fábrica de Loiça ao Rato (Lisbon). However, there are not many examples in the collections of national museums and few have kept their lids.
This inkstand has always merited great attention from ceramics’ researchers. On the top of the piece we can see Minerva, the Roman goddess of arts, commerce, wisdom and military strategy.
According to Joaquim de Vasconcelos and Artur Sandão, the figure of the goddess is related to the defeat of the French in the Peninsular War and symbolises peace. Originally belonging to Cristiano Augusto da Silva, the inkstand was previously in the collection of Augusto Luso.
Portugal, Vila Nova de Gaia, Santo António do Vale de Piedade Factory (?)
18th -19th century
Tin-glazed Earthenware
Although it is unmarked, this bowl or basin has the decoration and high quality glaze characteristic of the tin-glazed earthenware produced at the Santo António do Vale de Piedade factory, of which the Soares dos Reis National Museum possesses other similar examples. The lightness of the decoration, the chosen tones and the couple’s costumes bear witness to the taste for the rococo aesthetic in national production and consumers.
In shape and decoration, this tureen clearly shows late 18th and early 19th century Portuguese taste, marked by European aesthetic influences, particularly modern French and German porcelain. The presence of lemons with foliage on the handles gives the piece great artistic refinement, whose decoration, in a vinous tone, was inspired by the traditional motifs used in the production of this period.
This bottle is contemporary with the restoration of Portugal’s independence (in 1640), and it bears the national coat of arms and a lady in court dress. The decoration is in the style of Ming period Chinese porcelain.
A meiping-shaped pot whose decoration testifies to the influence of Ming dynasty Chinese porcelain on 17th century Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware. Besides its oriental decorative motifs, it has an exotic landscape with palm trees, large flowers, foliage and various animals, such as an elephant, a rabbit, a butterfly and birds.
The meiping-shaped jars, allegedly inspired by the shape of a young girl’s body, were intended to contain a single bouquet of plum blossoms.
The production of tin-glazed earthenware was started in Portugal in the mid-16th century by Flemish ceramicists based in Portugal. This vase bears the date 1608 and is the oldest known piece of Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware in the world. The second oldest piece also belongs to the Museum. It is a 1621 bowl (609 Cer CMP/ MNSR), with early Chinese influence in its decoration. Both pieces were produced in workshops, prior to the creation of the manufactories.
Pots with lids and strainers were possibly used to make wine flavoured with herbs, which would be infused in the strainer. Although this habit existed in Portugal, it was more common in Germanic countries, to which these pots and other types of ‘white ware’ were exported.
The careful painting of both the two-headed eagle and the camellias is a further sign of the pot’s quality. Camellias appear frequently on tin-glazed earthenware pieces and tile panels from the 1st half of the 17th century.
