It is the jewel of Portuguese industry, as described by Deezen. Founded in 1824 by José Ferreira Pinto Basto, it has managed to stay current while preserving its history, and is now a remarkable heritage asset. To mark its 200th anniversary, Vista Alegre has planned many initiatives and has already revealed the piece of the year – the Calendar Plate – which, in its decoration, showcases a set of elements illustrating the brand’s history.
The official start of the program was marked by the launch of this year’s Calendar Plate, the first piece to be produced by VA with the bicentennial seal. The most international Portuguese brand celebrated the beginning of its 200th anniversary celebrations on January 5th, at a ceremony held at the manufacturing unit in Ílhavo. Its history will be celebrated throughout 2024, involving all Portuguese people, artisans, and artists of the brand in an extensive festive embrace that extends until 2025.
“The event, held in the porcelain factory, was witnessed by Nuno Terras Marques, chairman of the board of directors of Vista Alegre and the Visabeira Group, by Vista Alegre administrators Nuno Barra, Teodorico Pais, Paulo Pires, Alda Costa, and Carlos Costa, who were also joined by João Campolargo, mayor of Ílhavo, José Ribau Esteves, mayor of Aveiro, Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024, and various Vista Alegre employees,” as stated in the press release.
In addition to the Calendar Plate, the first piece of the year to be produced at Vista Alegre, and alongside the many initiatives planned to celebrate these 200 years of success, excellence, dedication, and investment in Portuguese artistic and cultural heritage, a set of other pieces honoring VA’s memory will be added, “bridging the past, present, and future of the brand.” All pieces produced and launched throughout 2024 will bear the seal of Vista Alegre’s 200 years! “The celebratory identity of Vista Alegre’s 200 years, through the incorporation of the infinity symbol, communicates that the brand will continue to make history, projecting itself into the future.”
Among the planned actions for the celebrations, the brand highlights the exhibition at the National Palace of Ajuda, the launch of four commemorative stamps, the exhibition at the Vista Alegre Museum, the release of the official music of the 200 years, a television documentary produced about the history of Vista Alegre, the release of the commemorative book of 200 years, among many others, to be communicated throughout the year.
About the Calendar Plate
The collectible 2024 Calendar Plate refers to Vista Alegre’s bicentennial and simultaneously marks “the transience of time and the timelessness of creativity and art.” The Duck Time Calendar Plate “projects us into the future by evoking emblematic moments in the brand’s history.” The duck, the central figure of this colorful Calendar Plate, a migratory bird and a symbol of travel, fearless and resilient spirit, also alludes to the mascot that reportedly served as a model for Vista Alegre’s first artists. This duck came from the imagination of the duo Alessandro Lecis and Alessandra Panzeri, from the ALE+ALE collective based in Paris. As a backdrop, in perpetual motion and under the watchful eye of José Ferreira Pinto Basto, figurative and symbolic elements compose a multichronological narrative unfolding in the same space. From camels, which transported porcelain production to urban centers, to the first private fire department, from the introduction of football in Portugal to the commercial entrepreneurship of the factory’s founding entrepreneur and his descendants, represented by various merchant ships.
The identity of Vista Alegre’s 200 years
This year of celebration foresees a communication “based on material textures originating from the production contexts of the pieces – pastes, liquid glazes, shavings,” among others, “reflected in the different supports used by Vista Alegre, and these” will coexist with a diverse set of designs and paintings developed by the manufacture, which, in this legacy of 200 years, has been characterized by the delicacy of our artists’ brushstrokes.”
About Vista Alegre
The porcelain factory Vista Alegre, founded in 1824 in Ílhavo, Aveiro district, has managed throughout its journey to maintain its connection to Portuguese history and cultural life like few others, enhancing and valuing it, which has earned it the international notoriety it enjoys today. In 2001, the Vista Alegre Group (porcelain, faience, and stoneware) merged with the Atlantis Group (handcrafted crystal and glass of high quality), giving rise to one of the largest tableware and giftware groups in Europe: the Vista Alegre Atlantis Group. In 2009, the Vista Alegre Atlantis Group became part of the portfolio of brands of the Visabeira Group, after a successful public offering of shares in Vista Alegre Atlantis.
The good design of the Portuguese porcelain, crystal, and glass brand captures the attention every year of the most prestigious international design awards, including the German Design Awards, LIT (Light in Theory), Good Design Chicago, Innovative Interiors, European Product Design Awards, IF, German Innovation Awards, Architecture Masterprize, German Brand Awards, among many others, in countries such as Germany, the United States, and Italy, thus counting on a considerable number of awards in the brand’s history.
About partnerships
Leading names in contemporary design, painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, and other forms of art have lent their talent to many creations of the brand. Siza Vieira, Joana Vasconcelos, Patrick Norguet, Ross Lovegrove, Marcel Wanders, Jaime Hayon, Malangatana, Sempé, Brunno Jahara, Claudia Schiffer, Sam Baron, the French brand Christian Lacroix, and the insignia Oscar de la Renta, are some of the artists and designers who have collaborated with Vista Alegre. VA services are officially used by the President of the Portuguese Republic, the White House, various Royal Houses, and many personalities from around the world. Vista Alegre also supplies official tableware to various embassies around the world, including those of Brazil, Spain, and Morocco, as well as other national and international public and private institutions. In October 2018, Vista Alegre was awarded the ‘Regiostars’ prize by the European Commission, an award that rewards the best cohesion policy projects in the European Union, privileging innovative projects and good practices in regional development.
