the cool bag piping gaitero dude
bag piping depicted by spaniards? why? for people not ensconced in regions of spain, it may seem odd. but sargadelos is based in galicia, the celtic part of spain, so spot on as a choice of a form. i don't know the age of this, but he's been in my family for several decades. very mid century in style (particularly the method of distributing color blocks on the pants (see seventh image), the shape of the figure, which almost resembles a vessel of some sort, and the way the face is painted (see sixth image). he is just super cool. i can find no issues. he's only ever been dusted, and very carefully.
would look fabulous in a contemporary, modern or even traditional setting (and has been in all of those): fits into any. what i have particularly liked about him is that in the mid century setting he's been in, we wanted a little bit of color but not of the likes of primary colors that can be more associated with that style. he is quintessentially galician as he represents a gaitero. but he is removed from that traditional side by just his sheer style.
he is marked above his front leg with «sargadelos e.s.» (see second-to-last image). he makes it a little hard to convey measurements, but here is my go of it: from the base to the tip of his hate is 7" from the outside of the front leg to the outside of the back leg is 3 1/2". at the widest, the figurine is 5". at his thickest, he is 2 1/2".
when the rest of the knickknack-loving world thinks of spanish porcelain, pastel maidens by lladró usually come to mind. those sweet statuettes, forever frozen in a tender moment, have long enthralled collectors in the united states, japan and europe.
but when spaniards themselves ponder the state of their national porcelain, a radically different image emerges: one of bold primary colors, geometric patterns and naïf figurines bordering on abstraction. these pieces are closer in spirit to picasso than cinderella. some of them — carnival masks and protective charms — are positively ominous.
this edgy pottery bears the label sargadelos, a name most people outside spain would not recognize. but in the northwest region of galicia, where the porcelain has been mass-produced since 1968, those pieces have become «the tasteful gift par excellence,» as one local contemporary historian said. they mix modern attitude with nationalistic pride in this northern seafaring region, historically the poorest part of spain.
every bright sargadelos swirl and stripe is rooted in galicia's green hills and craggy coastline: its celtic legends...
decorative figures — simple and spontaneous, like a picasso sketch in three dimensions — depict local fishermen, craftsmen and mythical meigas, or good-luck witches...like something that escaped from a cubist painting.
the raw material used to make the ceramics is kaolinite, a quartz-like solid clay, mined in the sargadelos region, in a marina, lugo, spain. the clay is treated at the highest temperature possible, above 1400 degrees c, resulting in an exceptional vitrified porcelain of very high quality. the clear glaze is applied to the already decorated bisque fired pot, the decoration is applied by airbrushing the colour over stencils, calcographic prints or in some special models, by hand. all products are microwave, oven and dishwater proof and safe.
sargadelos is a spanish company that produces porcelain dinnerware, figurines, sculptures and jewellery. the pieces are all individually made and hand crafted from the finest galician porcelain. sargadelos has an excellent reputation for producing ceramic pieces of quality and individuality. the company is also steeped in history, with its ceramic plant opening in 1804; in 1947 sargadelos became a workers cooperative. today it is a limited company whose main shareholder is ceramicas do castro s.s. which has the participation of the families who have developed the company since 1947. sargadelos is committed to promoting galician culture and economic growth in conjunction with social development.
shipping costs have really increased—this is calculated into the buy-it-now price.
i am not able to sell individual items from items i have listed as a group. i just don't have the stamina to create new listings for those. i apologize for that. i haven't initially individually listed items because i don't have enough listing slots to so.
trying to downsize some, though extremely melancholically.
shipping time: i otherwise work more than full time and my health isn't great, so kindly excuse the longer handling time. if i am able to ship sooner, i absolutely will do that. i appreciate you taking the time to view my listing.