Ceramic with tradition

We at madetostay wanted to explore the Portuguese way of making faience or what they call white clay ceramic as the tradition of faience-making goes a long way back in Portugal. Jomazé is such a Portuguese white clay manufacturer located in the area around the beautiful city of Alcobaça where the imposing Alcobaça Monastery with its gothic church housed the Order of Cistercians monks.

According to Jomazé,’ these Cistercians monks and their legacy was the foundation of an unbroken tradition of excellent decorative and artistic ceramic production. This know-how and artistic creativity exceeded far beyond the borders of Portugal. It is a heritage spanning some 7 centuries or more, so even Jomazés workshop only spans 3 decades. However, we believe that the DNA of all the ceramists we have got to know in this small factory is embedded in the shapes and coloured ceramic of each of the madetostay Hobitats…