Ceramic Sardines

Sardines are part of Portuguese popular culture, they gather the Portuguese at summer barbecues, during the popular festivals of São João in Porto or Santo António in Lisbon. They have become a symbol of the unity of the Portuguese people and, as such, a true icon of Portugal and come in all forms and materials. 

The ceramic sardines usually made in the region of Caldas da Rainha, the cradle of Portuguese ceramics, have been revived by the famous Bordallo Pinheiro. However, there are still many ceramic workshops in this region, all offering re-visited editions of these famous ceramic sardines. This is an opportunity to offer you a souvenir of your stay in Portugal that you can use as a simple decorative object, as a paperweight, as a cutlery rest or even as a wall decoration. 

Glass sardines, rarer but just as decorative, are generally made in glass workshops in the Marinha Grande region, a region renowned for the quality of its glass production. Here you will find a collection of glass sardines made by Francisco Dos Santos, a renowned Portuguese master glassworker, used to working on the restoration of stained glass windows and exhibiting his work in the most beautiful galleries in Portugal, Europe and Brazil. 

Cloth sardines. They are usually made in bright colours, traditional Portuguese fabrics and trimmed with cotton and lavender. They are, of course, inserted between the piles of laundry in the cupboards, but most often they are hung on door handles as a decorative object.