Portuguese Ceramics and Faience

Faience is a ceramic with a porous body coated in a white, opaque tin glaze, onto which the painted decoration is applied before the second firing. In Portugal, this technique gave rise to one of the richest traditions of the Portuguese decorative arts, spanning five centuries and taking root in pottery centres as distinct as Lisbon, Coimbra, Rato, Vila Nova de Gaia and Viana do Castelo. Serving ware, ceremonial pieces, devotional objects and everyday wares came out of these kilns, mirroring the taste, the economy and the maritime contacts of each era.

From Flemish origins to the allure of the Orient

The systematic production of faience in Portugal began in Lisbon in the mid-16th century, driven by the settlement of Flemish potters who brought with them a mastery of the tin glaze. The capital soon became the chief port of entry for Chinese export porcelain, a luxury commodity whose prestige Lisbon’s potters sought to capture.

In the first half of the 17th century, what is today regarded as the golden age of refined Portuguese faience took shape: pieces of excellent workmanship, decorated in cobalt blue on a white ground, in which Oriental motifs — figures, landscapes, birds and reserves — are freely reinterpreted.

The Chinese symbols, emptied of their original meaning, were appropriated by the Portuguese ceramicists and recombined into a hybrid repertoire, in which imported exoticism coexists with local tradition.

This blue-and-white language profoundly influenced the tile work of the period, establishing a constant dialogue between table ware and the Portuguese azulejo that lines churches and palaces.

The great pottery centres

Each region developed an identity of its own. Coimbra, benefiting from the river link of the Mondego and from a pottery community active since the Middle Ages, established itself as one of the most enduring hubs, with its characteristic palette of blue, sepia, yellow and green — a tradition that survives in the faience of Coimbra. Vila Nova de Gaia, in the North, became an important production centre from the 17th century onwards, and Viana do Castelo distinguished itself by the quality of its ware in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The great turning point came with the Pombaline reform. Between 1767 and the early 19th century, dozens of factories were founded throughout the country, from the North to the Alentejo, in a deliberate effort to replace imports and stimulate the economy of the realm.

The Real Fábrica do Rato and the industrial age

The supreme symbol of this policy was the Real Fábrica de Louças do Rato, founded in Lisbon on 1 August 1767 and annexed to the silk factory, with royal privileges. Under the direction of the Italian Tomás Brunetto, between 1767 and 1771, high standards of quality were established, with forms inspired by French goldsmithery and colours indebted to Company porcelain. Directed from 1771 by Sebastião Inácio de Almeida — celebrated for his glazes and delicate painting — the factory operated until 1836.

Throughout the 19th century, faience moved closer to industrial production and to popular ware, the so-called “ratinha”, which was widely disseminated. In parallel, the artistic and fanciful strand flourished, above all in the ceramics of Caldas da Rainha, while in the North the workshops of glazed clay and of black ware of Bisalhães remained alive. This plurality — between the erudite and the popular, the utilitarian and the decorative — continues to define the place of ceramics in the Portuguese cultural heritage.