A beautiful vase from Alcobaca region of Portugal, measures 4 1/2 in tall, there is a small chip on side, the size of a pea.
People in Portugal have worked clay since prehistory – Travel the country one will find glazed tiles everywhere- on churches, houses, palace façades and in gardens. You see traditional red and black clay as every region has both. And, many areas offer amazing museum reproductions such as Viana do Castelo and Coimbra.
And, there are whimsical and fun clay traditions such s the figures from Estremoz, the greenware from Caldas, or the Rooster of Barcelos.
Caldas da Rainha, just north Lisbon, is a center of Portuguese pottery due to the abundance of clay deposits and its wonderful pottery. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, in 1884 opened a factory that makes the town famous, Fabrica de Faiancas,. The factory still puts out a variety of cabbage and greenware, figurines, and fanciful pottery.
Black pottery is found in Molelos, in Centro. The artisans of this region are identified with their creations, practicing the art of pottery making through generations.
Alcobaça
Alcobaça (altitude: 42m/138ft.), about 20km/12mi south of Batalha and known by the Romans as Eburobriga, is charmingly set between two little rivers, the Alcoa and the Baça, below the ruins of a Moorish castle. Its principal attraction is its magnificent Cistercian abbey.
Alcobaça is the cultural and economic heart of a large and fertile agricultural region (fruit canning), first brought under cultivation by St Bernard's monks in the 14th C.
The town is noted for its blue painted pottery which, with other handicrafts, can be found on sale in the square fronting the abbey.
http://www.azores-adventures.com/2015/02/the-pottery-of-portugal-a-world-of-color-and-style.html
Materials: ceramic.
