Manufacturers of ceramics in Aveiro, 1882-1923

Abstract

In Aveiro, during the period between 1882 and 1923, five units that made ceramics for construction were started, as well as many others that manufactured domestic and decorative crockery, and tiles. In the latter category, the most important was, initially, the Fonte Nova china factory, and later the Aleluia factory. Among the firms that produced roof tiles and bricks, the factory of Jerónimo Pereira Campos & Filhos was the most prominent. This is shown by the volume of capital that was involved, and by the nature of the project that, in 1923, transformed it from a private company to a limited company. The men who led these firms, as well as all the other partners, had very diverse training and social and professional origins. In general, the firms' managements were divided into two types of skills - technical and commercial. This vague «departmentalization», and the inherent hesitations of terminology, bear witness to the decline of the ceramics master (painter or modeller). The corollary of this was the rise of unified management under «captains of industry». This change was more obvious in the red clay subsection than in the white clay subsection. In the latter area, the trend for entrepreneurs to cease being the principal painters, and the tendency for workshops to give way to factories, was much slower. Despite the nature of the companies, the managers' strategies aimed to reinforce their families' positions.