The Museum of the Ways of the Gaudí Palace presents as ‘Piece of the month’ two works from the factory La Amistad de Cartagena (Murcia). They will be exhibited throughout the month of June in a prominent place on the second floor of the Gaudí Palace. These are two pieces from the La Amistad de Cartagena earthenware factory complex, which produced fine stamped earthenware in response to the bourgeois demand for tableware and other decorative pieces, imitating and as an industrial alternative to English earthenware. It was started up in 1842 and ceased production in 1893, with some later production until 1905.
The La Amistad earthenware is characterized by its whiteness and sonority, showing enamels of great transparency, and using the technique of stamping (exposed pieces), illuminated, bisque, white or painted. The decoration of this type of Cartagena earthenware was very diverse, with series of hunting and bullfighting themes (the most abundant and present in this dish and in the tureen), customs, floral and rich relief ornaments. The most abundant colors are black, sepia, red, green and blue.
The deep dish is decorated with hunting scenes, specifically deer hunting, with riders galloping after the prey in the open field, with a dotted border and bullfighting scenes. The tureen shows a scene from the bullfighting series, with horsemen chasing and spearing a bull, repeating the decoration on the lid.
The Museo de los Caminos houses and exhibits a splendid collection of antique earthenware where some of the most important Spanish and even European factories that produced service and ornamental earthenware from the mid-19th century to the present day are represented.
At the end of the month the pieces will be moved, but will remain until the end of the year along with the rest of the works exhibited in the previous and coming months. The Gaudí Palace can be visited from Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 hours and in the afternoons from 16:00 to 20:00 hours.