The XXth Century Oporto Jewellery exhibition

The XXth Century Oporto Jewellery exhibition is presented till the 27th of January 2002 at Casa Museu Guerra Junqueiro in Oporto, Portugal. This museum, belonging to the Museums and Cultural Patrimony Department of Oporto City Hall, organized this show intending to diffuse the silver production in Oporto from 1900 till 2001.

The pieces presented bear witness of the evolution of the styles that made a difference in the XXth century: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Neos and Revivalisms, Modern art and Contemporary Art and, nowadays, the Author's Contemporary jewellery as well. It is characterized by a conception of great creative freedom, produced by designers, architects, sculptors, painters and by a materialization of equal quality and technical rigour of jewellery like Manuel Alcino & Filhos, Miranda, Cunha, AlianÇa, JosÉ Rosas & Ca, Pedro A. Baptista, Luis Ferreira, Ferreira Joalheiros, Ferreira Marques & Irmao, among others. All these companies have played an important role in the improvement of the clients' taste (and vice versa) and in the expansion of the different artistic trends, causing the economic development of Oporto city and the northern region of the country.

It is also important to mention the essencial role of the jewellers/manufacturers who, working all over the city in small workshops, most of them after a family tradition, have produced handmade objects according to supplied models (such as sketches, finished pieces, etc). They continue to use ancient manufacture procedures and, at the same time, reveal a great technical skill, having given a lot of prestige to Oporto city.

Source: AssociaÇao dos Industriais de Ourivesaria et Relojoaria do Norte
[email protected]
January 2002