The Raul da Bernarda Museum is divided into two permanent exhibitions: “The Costumes of the Rancho do Alcoa alluding to the crockery of Alcobaça” and “Raul da Bernarda Ceramic Collection”.
The exhibition of costumes from the Alcoa ranch marks the reopening of the Raul da Bernarda Museum, whose space was acquired by the Municipality of Alcobaça and which since August 20, 2010 is available to the local and national public.
Comprising an estate donated to the municipality by former members of the community, the present exhibition portrays the historical, ethnographic and artistic memory of a remarkable past of the social and cultural life of Alcobaça. Rancho do Alcoa, whose first performance dates back to August 17, 1939, mirrored the exaltation of regional values, customs and traditions during nearly twenty years of incessant and fruitful activity.
Raul da Bernarda e filhos Lda. it is the oldest china ware factory in Alcobaça. Founded in 1875 by José dos Reis, a craftsman from Coimbra, this small industry would introduce utilitarian tableware in the village in the tradition and taste of Coimbra production. A line that was followed by Manuel Ferreira da Bernarda, its owner from 1900 onwards and whose management he would assume until the end of the 1920s.
Already under the administration of his son, Raul da Bernarda, the factory acquires, from the 1930s onwards, a new and decisive creative and artistic impulse, very dominated by the dynamism of its entrepreneur, but also supported by the team of excellent ceramic painters who would come to make their mark. regional and national decorative art with the expansion known as artistic tableware from Alcobaça.
The permanent collection on display at the Raul da Bernarda Museum aims to record and enhance a heritage with over 135 years of memory and whose unique pieces, displayed chronologically, document the beauty, importance and richness of the ceramic industry in Alcobaça.
Source: https://www.cm-alcobaca.pt/pt/2566/museu-raul-da-bernarda.aspx
Image source: https://www.facebook.com/museurauldabernarda/?locale=pt_PT