traditional jobs portugal

1. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Portuguese
Traditional Jobs & crafts
and Handicraft

2. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Traditional crafts are abundant and varied in
Portugal.
Some of them are on the verge of extinction but
some others have adapted or are being reinvented
and can still be an option for the future.

3. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Amolador
Grinder
• The grinder sharps
knives, scissors and
other cutting
instruments.
From time to time you can
still hear their traditional
whistle, calling costumers.

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Engraxador
Shoeshiner
• The shoeshiner shines the
shoes. You can still see
them in Lisbon and other
places.

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Sapateiro
Shoemaker
• The shoemaker makes and
repairs shoes. It’s still a
very useful and usualcraft.
In some places in Portugal
you will still find crafstmen
who make artisanal shoes
or boots, according to your
foot size.

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Vendedor ambulante
Ambulant seller
• Ambulant sellers sell
things on the street or at
the beach.
Selling ice creams Selling chestnuts
in summer in autumn

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Fotógrafo de rua
Street photographer
• The street photographer takes photographs of
people that ask him to do it. We can still find
them near some monuments/public places.

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Varinas
Fishmongers Nazaré
• Fishmongers sell fish.
This is still a tradition in places like Nazaré.
Selling dry fish in Nazaré

9. Calceteiro
Paver
• The paver does pavements
This form of ancient art is very This type of pavement is called
common in Portugal. Portuguese “calçada portuguesa” and it often
workers are often hired for this has very beautiful designs. The
skill to create these pavements in sidewalks are paved with limestone,
other countries. It’s a very hard granite, basalt, and other types of
work. stone.
Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”

10. Ourives
Goldsmith
• The goldsmith makes jewelry and ornaments.
In Portugal, filigree is the
most traditional kind of
jewelry. It has existed in
Portugal since Roman
times.
Traditional heart filigree Young filigree artisans

11. Portuguese Filigree
Póvoa do
Lanhoso
Gondomar
Filigree is a delicate kind of work
made with twisted threads and tiny
balls usually of gold and silver.
In Portugal it has its bases in the
north, in Gondomar and Póvoa
do Lanhoso.
You can see it in the traditional
Minho folklore, where women
wear several pieces from this
art.
Recently it has again
become fashionable.

12. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Oleiro
Potter
• The potter makes items of clay.
It’s a very ancient occupation This type of pottery is very
with a lot of tradition in common. Its uses include
Portugal. cooking and serving food.

13. Pebbled pottery from Nisa
Modern design
Small white limestone pebbles (quartz) are meticulously applied to
form lacy and floral patterns, forming a sort of embroidery.
Ceramics of Alentejo
Viana do Redondo

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Ceramics of Barcelos
Barcelos
This craft is quite old
but it continues to
succeed. The figures
are inspired by the
rural world and the
imaginary.
The legend of the Rooster of Barcelos
A Galician man passing through Barcelos was accused of stealing
and condemned to hang.
At the house of the judge , the man pointed to a roasted rooster on top
of the dinner table and exclaimed, "It is as certain that I am innocent as
it is certain that this rooster will crow when they hang me." .
When the man was being hanged, the rooster stood up and crowed. The
man was freed and sent off in peace.

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Bisalhães
Bisalhães Pottery
This black clay is considered The clay is originally red. It is
ideal for roasting. the concentration of smoke
during stitching that
transforms these pieces into
the famous black clay (barro
negro) which looks like
metal.

16. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Ceramics from Caldas da
Rainha Caldas da
Raínha
One popular model, created by Rafael
Bordalo Pinheiro, is a cabbage soup
tureen.
One of the most popular decorative figures is
Zé Povinho, a peasant created by Rafael
Bordalo Pinheiro that has become a symbol of
Portugal and the Portuguese people.

17. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Algarve Chimneys
This type of chimney is very common in the Algarve. It is
typically white, plain or laced.

18. Pastor
Shepherd
•A shepherd is a person
who tends, feeds, or guards
flocks of sheep.
In the past cork utensils were
used for milking and
transporting milk from sheep
Portuguese shepherds tend and goats. Nowadays smaller
sheep and goats. models are still used to carry
cooked food because they keep

19. Cork handicraft
In Alentejo cork is used for making objects for domestic
use or decoration. These objects are deeply connected
with shepherds’ lifestyle, and are an example of the use of
natural resources and of the way rural people used to and
still occupy their free time.

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Examples of modern articles in cork, produced in
Portugal

21. Queijeiro
Cheesemonger/Cheesemaker
•A cheesemaker is a person who makes cheese
Portugal has various high
Cheese is an important
quality artisanal cheeses,
production in our region, too. The
which are primarily produced
most famous is “queijo de
using sheep and goat’s milk.
Azeitão”, a small town.

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Construtor de instrumentos
Instrument artisan
The tradition of building The Portuguese guitar
instruments is very old and is made by artisans who
it’s considered a business use different types of
of excellence. wood for its
construction.

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A bordadeira
The embroiderer
In Arraiolos, Alentejo , you can still see women making
rugs in the street.
Arraiolos
Arraiolos rugs are entirely hand embroidered with pure
wool on jute canvas. The motives are geometric, flowers
and animals, among others.

24. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Arraiolos Rugs
Arraiolos rugs
The origin of these rugs dates back to the end of the 16th
century, and they occupy a privileged place among the
pieces of Portuguese handicraft.

25. Minho
Sweetheart
Handkerchiefs
These pieces are typical
clothing accessories from
Minho. Young single women
embroidered love
messages to their
boyfriends who were sent off
to sea or war to the former
colonies.
When a man showed in public the
handkerchief offered by a woman, this
meant he had decided to initiate a
relationship with her.
Spelling mistakes
are common

26. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Madeira Embroidery
Madeira embroidery exists since the
start of the population process of the
archipelago but it was about 150 years
ago that it started to be recognized as a
merchandise.
The production process still maintains the
same authenticity, being entirely produced
by hand.
Nowadays there are around
4500 embroiderers in
Madeira who dedicate their
time to this art .

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Vila do Conde
Bobbin lace
Peniche
Bobbin lace is made ​on a hard pillow1. On the pillow, they
place a punch card2 where the design is
marked ​with small holes. The lace is made by braiding and
twisting the threads, which are wound on
bobbins3. This type of lace is made in Vila do
Conde and Peniche, seaside villages.

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Cestaria
Basketry
It’s a very old type of craft, but it remains very present in
our days. Baskets are made with straw, rattan and lintel,
among other raw materials.

29. Pintura de Azulejos
Tile painting
Tile-making came to the Iberian
peninsula in the 14th century, brought
with the Islamic Caliphs. After the
earthquake of 1755 their use increased
a lot, due to their resistance.
The “azulejos” of Portugal are used to
decorate walls of houses, buildings and
churches, among other uses.

30. Pintura de Azulejos
Tile painting
The tile paintings which are
recognized as being more
characteristic of the Portuguese
culture are the blue and white
ones.
They display teachings of god, historical
events, geometrical designs and other
patterns.
This tradition is still very much alive and it
is easy to find shops where you can
observe the manufacturing process.

31. Alfaiate
Tailor
• The tailor creates men’s
clothing by hand and
tailored.

32. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Bullfighter costume
Coruche
In Coruche, a land of bullfighters, we can find craftsmen who are
dedicated to making jackets for riders in the style of the
eighteenth century, luxuriously embroidered silk of different
colours.
These craftsmen are masters of a kind of craft very rare today!

33. Ferreiro
Blacksmith
• The blacksmith is
the person that
creates objects by
forging metal .

34. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Forging Iron
Farm implements and articles for fireplaces used to be
the main creations.
Today this art of forging iron is reborn and has gained a
new artistic dimension.

35. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe”
Mobiliário alentejano
Furniture from Alentejo
Alentejo traditional painted furniture, with white, red
or blue backgrounds, decorated with flowers and
petals,.

36. Comenius Project “Windows on Europe"