Porcelain Society of Coimbra

This factory that you'll talk today was of great importance at the national level with regard to the ceramics.

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A little history about its importance and its connection to a brand that today is a resounding name of the type of product that was produced there, a Vista Alegre.

The Society of Coimbra Porcelain (S. P.) have arisen in the years 1930(?) trying to find a space between Vista Alegre (1824) Company and Electro-Ceramics (1919) that dominated, at that time, the domestic market of china.
The SP succeeded in utilitarian ware (dinner and tea services) either from the companies – hotel and catering -, both at the level of individual consumers. Still produced some artistic porcelain enjoying the few painters who managed fish back in the other existing factories.
The success of porcelain in Portugal, especially since World War II, is about, on the one hand, with industrial development, and, on the other hand, with the sharp rise in consumption that was checking in the West. Industrial development has resulted in improved equipment and techniques of "impression" of drawings in folder. The increase in consumption was related to the improvement of living conditions of the populations. The Portuguese branch companies, especially Vista Alegre, enhance its export focus.
The porcelain was always better than earthenware: cleaner, more lasting, more beautiful. Had a catch: was too expensive and, that is why, little accessible to all. From the 1960s´s prices were closer and the market began to tilt to the side of the porcelain. The Sink Factory Sacavém, that dominated the entire first half of the twentieth century em Portugal, could now have its days numbered.
The Vista Alegre realized the evolution of the consumer and of the danger that these two companies could represent internally. Company bought the Electro-Ceramics in 1940´s – 1945 (?) - Society and the Porcelain in 1950´s with the intention to substantially close the. Worked for some time in the ceramics industry and were converted. Shortly after being acquired, Society Porcelains products still produced for export with two stamps, your and Vista Alegre.
This tea service is the pre-entry period Vista Alegre stake in SP.

Second JN News, SP closed their doors for the 12-12-2005 and so is up to today, leaving only a few pieces still to remember the heyday of mass production and serving primarily as a shelter for homeless, addicts and other instances of life that there coabitam.

My visit together with colleague Philip Santos, led us once again to the exclamation that often use when we visit places like these (HOOO!), but this time we had a “close encounter” with an inhabitant of a small corner at the factory that perhaps the fear of not knowing us or shame, not addressed in any word in response to our “Boa tarde” and “Excuse me”. We continued our exploration and she continued on her reading and later left the building.
The output, the encounter was with someone who was holding a garrote as seeing the life drain from her by a thread. But let the pictures…