San Mamés de Busturia porcelain factory

(Basque Country 1842-1862)

Plate

ca. 1850-1860

Fine earthenware with black pattern

22.5 cm 

Inv. no. Inv. no. V00035

BBVA Collection Spain


The Busturia factory specialised in the manufacture of crockery and items for personal hygiene and grooming. Its models are similar to those produced in other similar factories in the Iberian Peninsula like, for instance, in Valdemorillo. However, in the final stages of its production its models were closer to the English style popular among the better-off classes.

A large number of crockery pieces have survived to this day, usually with black patterns and decorated with exotic, picturesque motifs including buildings and gardens with trees and groups of characters.

In this plate we see a pair of women chatting with a man in the front garden of a large house. It is the only item preserved with this particular motif, patterned in black and trimmed with a frieze consisting of bunches of grapes and vine leaves.