Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

Azulejo Mural – Almas Chapel of Santa Catarina by Silvestre Silvestri

The Igreja de Carmo church in Porto is one of the examples of the Portuguese baroque era with neo-classical features. The large ceramic panel is a depiction of the foundation of the order of Carmelites on Mount Carmel in Israel.

 

 

 

Arabesque geometric azulejo balcony

 

 

 

Caravel (sailing ship) azulejos panel

© José Luiz Ribeiro Bernardes

 

 

Fabulous Portuguese Azulejos

 

The azulejo (ceramic tiles) of Portugal are ubiquitous and usually presented on a monumental scale, with a grandeur and elegance, rarely seen with public tile art. They also represent a visual public history record, serving as a chronicle of many aspects of Portugal’s past, displaying military battles, daily life, mythical Gods, creatures and other cultural and historical references. The term azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning “polished stone.”
The early azulejos, which appeared in the 13th Century, had a distinct Arab influence with interlocking curvilinear, geometric or floral motifs and was used to imitate the Roman mosaic arts. In accordance to Islamic law, they portrayed no human figures, only geometric patterns. Azulejos were utilised to decorate the entire facades of buildings and used extensively on the interiors, adorning whole walls. Over time the Portuguese painters introduced more human or animal figures into their designs. The pervasive azulejos can be witnessed at palaces, railway stations, schools, fountains, churches, homes, restaurants and bars.

 

Moorish Fountain, Sintra National Palace

 

With the influx of Italian potters into Seville in the 16th century, sophisticated Majolica techniques were introduced that allowed the artists to represent a much larger number of figurative themes in their compositions. There was also an influence that filtered through from the printed textiles that were imported from India, which manifested as Hindu decorative symbols, flowers, leaves, animals and birds. The latter half of the 17th century saw the introduction of blue and white tiles from the Dutch Deft company by Spanish artist Gabriel del Barco y Minusca. These blue and white figurative tiles, designed by academically trained Portuguese artists, became the dominant fashion, superseding the former taste for repetative patterns and abstract decoration.
From the mid 1700‘s on, the taste of Portuguese society changed from the monumental narrative panels to smaller and more delicately executed panels in Rococo style. Another innovation that appeared was the use of transfer printing on the blue and white tiles, but hand painted tiles still remained popular. The cultural elite dismissed the Azulejo tile art as decoration for the masses but since the 1950‘s a revival had occurred with contemporary artists such as Maria Keil, Costa Pinheiro, Nuno Siqueira and Cecília de Sousa all contributing to a program to uplift the metro underground of Lisbon with Azulejo art.

The unique azulejos art is a regular feature as you travel around Portugal and it still constitutes a major aspect of Portuguese architecture, being applied on walls, floors and ceilings, making it easily accessible and a vivid history source.

 

Cross legged oriental porcelain figurines

Palace of Pena, Sintra

 

 

Santa Catarina Chapel

 Porto, Portugal

 

Indian parlour, Palace of Pena, Sintra

 

 

 

Leda and Swan azulejo motif

Ceramic tiles (Azulejo) with a market scene at the wall of the Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

 

 

Portuguese Trompe Loeil azulejo mural

 

 

Azulejos shopfront mural , matching blue and white ceramic vessels

Lisbon

 

 

National Palace of Pena arabesque orientalist room with Saxony porcelain

© Sandro Vannini/CORBIS

 

 

Arab Room

Palacio de Pena Sintra,Portugal

 

 

Igreja do Carmo azulejos wall

Porto, Portugal

 

 

 

Azulejo church facade

Cortegaca, Aveiro, Portugal

jesuscm – Flickr

 

 

 

Azulejos wall mural, National Palace of Queluz

atalentfordesign.com

 

 

 

Viuva Lamego, Lisboa ©Luis Novo

 

 

 

Pena Palace, Sintra

 

 

Barcelona Cathedral

My two sons on their way to Portugal, where they took some photos at Sintra, added in this post.

 

 

Pena Palace charger, Sintra, Portugal

 

 

The ‘guardians of the penumbra’ at the ‘Guardian Gate’ which leads to the ‘Initiation Well’

Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra

 

 

The Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira, Lisbon

 

 

 

Fabrica  Sant’ana, Lisbon (azulejos tile factory still in production since 1741)

 

 

 

The Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira, Lisbon

Built in 1641

 

 

 

Sintra sculpture

djtravelexperience.com

 

 

Fabrica  Sant’ana, Lisbon

trilhos-da-ana.blogspot

 

 

Oriente Underground Station Azulejos

Photo by Mario Rui Fernande

 

 

 

Bussaco Royal Palace, Penacova, Portugal

 

 

 

Mid Century wall mural by Querubim Lapa, Lisbon

 

 

 

Modernist charger  – Querubim Lapa, 1959

 

 

Manuela Madureira azulejos, 1965 (  monumental wall mural on the cusp of demolition)

Monsanto Panoramic Restaurant

cidadanialx.blogspot.com.au/

 

 

 

Azulejos Lisbon

Photo by Jos Dielis

 

 

 

Pena Palace bronze sculpture lamp, Sintra

 

 

 

Handpainted azulejos, Sintra

 

 

 

 

Caption – ‘O inico revolta con os frances’ – ( start of revolt with France)

Olhao seaside, Portugal

 

 

Janelas Verdes, Lisboa

JaimeSilva -Flickr

 

 

Geisha azulejos at  Avenida 5 de Outubro, Lisbon

JaimeSilva -Flickr

 

 

Viana do Castelo Cathedral, Portugal

Photo by Ricardo Silva

 

 

Azulejos at Avenida 5 de Outubro, Lisbon

 

 

 

Oriente Railway Station azulejos

Lisbon

 

 

Stair azulejos, Queluz National Palace, Portugal

 

 

 

Ornate entrance at Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra

 

 

 

Rococo decor at Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra

 

 

 

Kangaroo in a porthole

Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra

 

 

 

Oriente Station azulejos

Lisbon

 

 

Sao Bento Station azulejos murals

 

 

Pair of lidded ceramic double gourd vessels

Peno Palace, Sintra

 

 

 

Traditional Portuguese pottery with white quartz inlay from Nisa

 

 

 

Pena Palace, Sintra

 

 

 

 

Azulejos at Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, Lisbon

 

 

The Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira, Lisbon

 

 

 

Teatro Eden Hotel Art Deco, Lisbon

 

 

 

Azulejos mural, Porto

 

 

 

 

Pena Palace, Sintra

 

 

 

The Church of St. Sebastian in Darque – Viana do Castelo

 

 

 

Mural at Porto Railway Station

 

 

 

Swan Room azulejos ceiling, Pena Palace

 

 

 

Swan azulejos with arabesque border

Pena Palace, Sintra

 

 

Dining Room azulejos walls – Sintra Palace

crumpdillyicious.blogspot

 

 

Neptune azulejos panel – Aquário Vasco da Gama

Dafundo, Lisbon

 

 

‘Adam & Eve cast from Eden’  by Querubim Lapa

Palácio da  Justiça (1970)

 

 

God, Adam and Eve

Coimbras Chapel, Braga Portugal

 

 

Sintra Palace fountain

 

 

 

Blue and white azulejos bathroom at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA

 

 

 

Next post – Sculptures of abstraction