Ricardo do Espirito Santo Silva Foundation
Decorative Arts Workshops

These artisans create period reproductions in a variety of media and restore damaged pieces with the same care and materials that were used in the originals.
Below is a quick look at a few of the workshops:

Cabinetmaking Workshop

Furniture is constructed here, then sent to the decorative workshops for finishing.

Inlay and Marquetry Workshop

Tulipwood, rosewood, boxwood, sycamore, walnut, ebony, satinwood, shell, ivory, silver, and brass are cut and glued to the surface of furniture, weapons, and musical instruments in this workshop.

Wood Carving Workshop

Rosewood, walnut, chestnut, oak, beechwood, and pine are hand carved in this workshop.

Gold Leaf Workshop

A five pound hammer is used to flatten a packet consisting of thin 23k gold sheets interleafed with paper.

 Twenty five sheets of gold leaf are then individually cut to size and placed between sheets of paper to produce a "gold book."

Book and Leather Decoration Workshop

After the book has been assembled in the bookbinding workshop, it is covered with leather and decorated in this workshop.

For more information about the Museum, the Institute of Arts and Crafts, or the College of Decorative Arts, please read Ricardo do Espirito Santo Silva Foundation (ISBN 972825332X), or contact them in Portuguese, Spanish, or English at:

Calçada de S. Vicente, 38
1100-569 Lisboa
Tel: 21 888-1991
E-Mail: geral@fress.pt

LINKS:
Ceramics of Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Tiles of Portugal
Marquetry of Granada, Spain
Sculpture of Seville, Spain
Mexican marquetry box maker, José Antonio Rodríguez
Mexican wood carver, Fernando Giron Pantoja
Haida wood carver, Reg Davidson
Haida painter, James Sawyer
Polish wood carver, Jan Piotr Ledwon
Polish wood carver, Czeslaw Olma
Wood carving in Foumban, Cameroon, Africa
African, Abdou Mfopa

Web page, photographs, and text by Carol Ventura in 2005. Please look at Carol's home page to see more about crafts around the world.