An original, late 19th century Spanish blue and white lebrilllo from Fajalauza in Granada ( Spain ), with bespoke metal brackets to be hanged on the wall.
Please note that this lebrillos are all original and have been used. Some wear and tear with restorations, making them even more beautiful.
Brief history of ceramics from Fajalauza
The birth of Fajalauza ceramics occurs in the first half of the 16th century in Granada, ーespecially in the Albayzínー, where a type of pottery commonly known as Fajalauza ceramics is made. It is a popular production that over time has aroused wide interest, to the point that any of its humble containers can be considered one of the hallmarks of the city. The name of Fajalauza dates back to at least 1841. That is when this name appeared in the local magazine “La Alhambra (31-1-1841)”, fully consolidating in the 20th century. However, the productive activity is much older: its origins must be sought in the evolution of ceramics made in the surroundings of the Alhambra and Realejo after the surrender of Granada. A complex situation will then arise in which some elements will evolve, while others will remain the same, thus being the manifestation of a popular art, genuinely from Granada, which has already been in existence for more than five hundred years.
Indeed, the first mention that has been found in the documents dates back to 1517, and refers to the “olleros”, that is, the potters. However, these are already mentioned in a Royal Certificate of 1492. The potters who continued to work after the conquest were Moorish, whose names in some cases we know thanks to the documentation. The most significant, for the case at hand, is that of Hernando Morales, ancestor of the same family that currently continues to own the Fajalauza workshops. In the 16th century the city of Granada had 37 potters’ workshops, which in the 18th century, in the Ensenada Cadastre, had been reduced to 10. In the 19th century this number decreased even more, to only 8. One of them It will be that of the Morales family.
Ceramics of Fajalauza, therefore, is called the popular pottery in glazed and decorated clay, made in the Albaicín of Granada by a large number of different families, and with a pottery tradition that dates back to at least 1517.
It remained unchanged in a style and hallmarks characterized by the tin glaze and the decoration in cobalt blue-gray, copper green and manganese black-purple, with decorations with plant motifs –with the prominence of pomegranate, birds, interlacing and heraldic motifs.
Among his acknowledgments we can mention the Silver Medal of the Brussels Universal Exposition of 1910, the Ibero-American Exposition of Seville 1929, the first award for the ornamental plate of Cáceres, the Hispanic Society of New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum of London, the Ethnological Museum of Geneva, etc.
Our products are made following the traditional Arab technique of which we are its most faithful followers and proof of this is, among other achievements, the restoration tile cloth of the Patio de los Arrayanes in the Alhambra, the plinth of the main patio of the Ayto. Granada, the house of the Jew of Córdoba, or the complete tilework of the estate of the kings of Belgium in Motril.
The workshop building: industrial heritage
The main nucleus of the potteries was found in modern times in the area between Cartuja-San Isidro, San Ildefonso and Fajalauza. The potteries are facilities that require space for the development of their activity and in addition to raw materials and water. They also had a living space, where the members of the owner family lived. The house-factory on Calle Fajalauza nº 2, which is still in production, integrates all the necessary processes for traditional pottery production: settling ponds and clay maturation area, buried lathes, stoves and a reverberatory oven for elaboration of enamels, painting and drying chambers, and the magnificent “Hispano-Arabic” oven for firing with gorse as fuel. Likewise, the century-old factory houses “modern” improvements from the mid-20th century, such as the plate press, the mixer to mix the clay, enamel mills, etc.
The Fajalauza Foundation aims to protect and preserve the artistic and artisanal tradition of this ceramic, transmitting this heritage to all citizens as intangible cultural heritage and collective memory. Of all the old factories, those of the Morales Moreno family are the only ones that still maintain production today, maintaining the centuries-old tradition despite the ravages of the industrial revolution.