Royal Manufactory The Royal Earthenware and Porcelain Factory founded in l’Alcora by Mr. Buenaventura Abarca de Bolea and Ximénez de Urrea, IX Count of Aranda, opened its doors on May 1st, 1727.
Earthenware and porcelain from the Count of Aranda’s Royal Factory Collection
This special factory, which was innovative and pioneering in many aspects, based its success and survival on many new aspects that burst into the preindustrial scene in Spain: the hiring of prestigious technicians and foreign artists, the writing of bylaws that regulated the functioning of the Factory, the creation a School for Trainees, the establishment of marketing channels, etc.
It was not by chance that the Count of Aranda set the headquarters of his company in l’Alcora. Our city had an extensive pottery tradition and, when the Royal Factory was founded, l’Alcora had around twenty kilns to produce pitchers, pots and other dishes used in everyday life and good quality clay deposits.
The main objective of the Museum from its foundation in 1994 has been the gathering of a significant collection as complete as it is possible in a chronological, typological and stylistic way, both through acquisitions and through agreements with other museums and private collections. This second way has been essential to complete the Museum’s own collection since this is how it has been possible to incorporate pieces from the National Museum of Ceramics in Valencia, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, the Fine Arts Museum in Castelló, l’Alcora church, Torrecid and Ceracasa (from l’Alcora) collections, private collections and funds granted by the Asociación de Amigos del Museo de Cerámica (AMCA).
