Manuel Gustavo Bordalo Pinheiro # 3: a ceramicist beginning (1900s)

In 1900, a collaboration with A Parodia gave Manuel Gustavo an opportunity to make a definitive mark in the field as a humourist.

1900 was a golden year in which Manuel Gustavo accompanied his father to Paris for the Exposition Universelle, a trip amply documented in the pages of A Parodia.

Adaptation of an illustration from the German humour magazine Jugend, published in Munich from 1896 to 1940.

German humour magazines were by far the artist's most important reference and source of inspiration.

Some of the artist's finest illustrations were published in A Parodia, which featured repetitive friezes and a broad use of colour.

The Art Nouveau style, which he encountered in Paris, came to influence his work from 1900 onwards, as can be seen in the frames with undulating lines featured in various illustrations during this period.

In 1903, Manuel Gustavo participated in the 2nd exhibition of the Sociedade de Belas Artes in Lisboa, along with Francisco Valença.

In 1904, Manuel Gustavo assisted his father in organising the Faience Factory's participation in an exhibition in St. Louis, USA, where they were awarded a Gold medal.

International issues were front and centre in the pages of A Parodia.


The national context was marked by the colonial issue and Portugal's foreign debt, which had left the country in an acutely vulnerable position with respect to the European powers, particularly Great Britain, a situation widely commented on in the press at the time.

Manuel Gustavo was a devoted companion to his father, whose worsening health led to his death on 23 January 1905.

The death of his father was a huge blow to Manuel Gustavo.

In an emotional letter to readers, he wrote:


'Our mission is not to "continue", which would be too heavy a responsibility, but to "begin", which is responsibility enough.’


Taking the helm of A Parodia, he implemented new marketing strategies by introducing colour and new printing techniques.

In December 1905, Manuel Gustavo was awarded a medal from France's Legion of Honour for having been a member of King Carlos's press delegation in Paris.

Manuel Gustavo took over the Faience Factory and held his first exhibition of ceramics in May 1906 at his studio on Rua António Maria Cardoso, in Lisbon:


'This exhibition is the fruit of my efforts as a ceramicist who is just beginning (...) my thought was that I would not allow Caldas da Rainha's traditional faience to die out as Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro had done'.

[Ilustração Portuguesa, 11.06.1906]

The reaction to his show in the press was encouraging:

'This was a Success. For the first time in Lisbon, he has ceased to be a sportsman, a marksman in a weapons room, an oarsman at a Cascais regatta, and has instead become, exclusively, an Artist'.


[Ilustração Portuguesa, 25.02.1907]

The Parodia continued to be published until 1907, a period in which João Chagas contributed commentaries and Manuel Gustavo was frequently absent because of his ceramic exhibitions.

The period between 1907 and 1908 posed the greatest challenge for Manuel Gustavo following the issue of an attachment order on the then-mortgaged Faience Factory and its subsequent purchase by Godinho Leal.


During this period, Manuel organised three exhibitions of his ceramics:


The first, in homage to his father and graced by the presence of King Carlos, took place in the Salon of the periodical Ilustração Portuguesa.


[Ilustração Portuguesa, 11.03.1907]

[Ilustração Portuguesa, 04.03.1907]

The other two, held in his studio and at the Sociedade de Belas Artes in Porto, featured 'polychrome terracotta', which José Queirós hailed as a 'new expression of Art in Portuguese ceramics'.

[Ilustração Portuguesa, 01.07.1907]

On par with his graphic work, Manuel Gustavo founded the Bordalo Pinheiro Factory in Caldas da Rainha in 1908, the successor to the Fábrica de Faianças das Caldas da Rainha which had been bought in a public auction by Manuel Godinho Leal following the death of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.


After a long drawn out battle in the courts, in which he managed to recover the original moulds from his father's ceramic pieces, Manuel Gustavo continued Rafael's ceramic work, in keeping with the latter's final will.These were years of tremendous financial difficulties in which he relied on the support of many of the Faience Factory's former employees, as well as the press and art critics, including José de Figueiredo and José Queirós, who rallied to his defence from early on.


He distinguished himself as a ceramicist whose vast oeuvre, both eclectic and modern, assimilated the basic elements of local traditional ceramics and featured pieces with cleaner lines in the manner of Art Nouveau.

Presented for the first time in 1907, the 'polychrome terracotta' were the highlight of the Lisbon exhibition in 1909, capturing the attention of the critics. Stylised in design, their repetitive friezes and figurative medallions reflect the personal taste of Manuel Gustavo and his training in graphic outlines.

On 5 November 1908, Manuel Gustavo inaugurated the new Bordalo Pinheiro Factory.


Accompanying him were workers from the old factory, which ensured a level of quality and production that had earned the factory a gold medal at an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.

Caldas da Rainha was a wellspring of both work and pleasure.


In the Summer of 1908, Manuel Gustavo, accompanied by his friends, posed for a photograph in front of a modern automobile.

In 1909, in the catalogue of his 3rd exhibition, Manuel Gustavo wrote:

'I was evicted from the building housing the Factory my father founded. I had to launch an appeal in the courts, which happily redressed the injustice, and I took repossession of the property and all of the moulds (...) Despite incalculable difficulties, I managed to erect a small factory in the space of a few months. (...) I am excited by the idea that perhaps one day, I shall meet someone who will provide me with the means to expand to the great centres of Europe and America and to work alas with tranquillity and resolution. This is the hope that enlivens me.’

[Ilustração Portuguesa, 28.06.1909]

This plate, part of a set of eight, is an example of the impressive application of graphic design to ceramic art in which the plasticity of the material is exploited.