Vista Alegre, porcelain perfection

Luiza emotionally recalls how on her birthday one year, her husband surprised her by serving up the evening meal on Vista Alegre plates decorated with her own illustrations. Rute can still remember her twelfth birthday when her Mum used the young girl’s savings to invest in a porcelain dinner service she could keep for when she was older. Despite being pretty unimpressed at the time, Rute now proudly displays the service in a beautiful crockery cabinet in her dining room. These highly personal stories are a testament to the way in which Portuguese people’s lives are intimately entwined with Vista Alegre. Dinner services https://mom.maison-objet.com/fr/produits/cuisine?page=0, vases and precious pieces are frequently handed down from one generation to the next, so to mark its 200th anniversary, the brand invited its community to share their special stories. In January, the Vista Alegre team made their annual trip to Maison&Objet to unveil the new collection. The 2024 catalogue includes numerous commemorative pieces that are sure to become collectors’ items. As of October, a huge retrospective exhibition celebrating the firm’s work will open at Lisbon’s Palace of Ajuda, which was the country’s last royal residence. The choice of venue is particularly symbolic as it was, in fact, King John VI who gave nobleman José Ferreira Pinto Basto the authorisation to build his factory in Ílhavo, a town to the south of Porto, on July 1st 1824. The family were still perfecting their porcelain manufacturing techniques at the time, so José sent his son, Augusto, to the Manufacture de Sèvres in France to hone his skills. On his return, they located a kaolin deposit to the north of the town, securing a ready supply of one of the raw materials that would be key to their firm’s longevity.

A back catalogue that mirrors every artistic trend

José was also an enlightened and forward-thinking man. He set up an arts village alongside the factory, introducing workers to drama, sculpture, music and painting. Today, the family may no longer be shareholders, but that tradition is still going strong. Employees can attend painting classes, and the in-house drama club and orchestra regularly put on shows. Everything is manufactured in Portugal, drawing on an astute blend of artisan craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology. Over the years, Vista Alegre has worked with numerous contemporary designers, and its back catalogue reflects every trend. Patrick Norguet, Ross Lovegrove, Marcel Wanders and Jaime Hayon have all put their names to collections, as has tableware enthusiast Claudia Schiffer. Potential designers are encouraged to visit the factory to soak up the sense of tradition before coming up with their own design. Today, the firm’s dinner services not only continue to take pride of place on royal dining tables right across Europe, but are also a firm fixture in the White House and, indeed, in every Portuguese home.

Discover the brand: Vista Alegre on MOM

Illustration ©Sarah Bouillaud