A Vida Portuguesa

Devoted to the crafts of Portugal, the emporium A Vida Portuguesa is your pitstop ceramics, hand-made woollen blankets, glassware to napkins, stationery to baskets - all made in Portugal. Curated by founder Catarina Portas, the stores represent her ethos of nurturing and supporting homegrown talent. A Vida Portuguesa celebrates the cultural heritage of local manufacture from mostly from family-owned, sustainable producers.

You can walk out, or order online, a handblown glass from Depósito da Marinha Grande, a ceramic figurine to the wonderful Alentejo blanket from Fabricaal as a bed throw, or snap up a ceramic swallow crafted in the original moulding from 19th-century ceramist Rafael Bordallo Pinheir. Frozen mid-flutter, the bird has become a popular wall-hanging in Portuguese homes. A strong narrative of the origin, personality and passion lends an air of individualism, making the items a perfect one-of-a-kind accessory to planet home. 

In the words of the founder: 'We believe objects can tell extraordinary and revealing stories. About a people and its particular taste, about a society and its context, about a history which is, after all, a common identity. And, because we know – only too well – the infinite power of saudade (that nostalgic and untranslatable longing), we also believe objects have the magical power to, like a certain Madeleine, awaken memories and sensations in each one of us. In other words, to reveal ourselves.'

A Vida Portuguesa is for those aficionados who relish a little nostalgia and are not afraid to combine the echoes of the past with standout pieces of today.