Renato de Albuquerque was in his 30s when he bought his first piece of Chinese ceramics at an auction. The Brazilian civil engineer was not a specialist, heir, or aspiring collector, but his curiosity turned into interest and then into passion. Today, at 96, he has one of the world's largest collections of Chinese export porcelain, Ming and Qing dynasties, and imperial porcelain. That first piece, acquired in a completely amateur manner, was cracked from top to bottom on the back, recounts his granddaughter Mariana Teixeira de Carvalho with a laugh, as she leads a group of journalists through the works of the Albuquerque Foundation, in the family’s holiday home in Linhó (Sintra). However, the episode did not dampen the builder's fascination with the ancient art of ceramics, particularly from the 15th to the 18th centuries.
In February 2025, Renato Albuquerque's private collection, gathered over 60 years and consisting of more than 2,600 pieces, will be open to the public in a space dedicated entirely to ceramics and the history of significant trade relations between the East and the West. The work on the estate in Sintra, designed by the Brazilian studio Bernardes Arquitetura, is in full swing and is divided into four parts. The main building, which will house the restaurant, library, shop, and three suites for artist residencies, and the gardens are being renovated. Meanwhile, the semi-basement, which will host the permanent collection at the bottom of a spiral staircase under a large canopy, and the building dedicated to modern art, where temporary exhibitions focusing on contemporary ceramics will be held, have been built from scratch.
"Porcelain is a difficult object to display, and the project was designed with that in mind", explains Mariana, a former human rights lawyer and now the president of the Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Foundation, in the darkness of the still-empty room. "This space brings in a bit of the external light from the garden, which will change throughout the year, but the aim was never to create a glass cube". In this lower area, there will also be several storage rooms to house the entire collection (only 25% of the collection will be on display, as not everything fits), some with glass walls and others with no natural light, for pieces that require special maintenance and restoration conditions.
In the new modern art building, located in the lower part of the garden, visitors will be able to discover three to four contemporary artists per year. "Whether they are living or historical, traditional ceramists or not, here we will have solo exhibitions, providing a contrast to the lack of authorship in the permanent collection, which is largely anonymous", continues the collector's granddaughter, whose connection to Portugal dates back to his involvement in the construction of Quinta Patiño and Quinta da Beloura.
The artistic director will be the Italian critic and curator Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, and the inaugural exhibition, scheduled for February, will be dedicated to the work of the American artist Theaster Gates, who considers himself, above all, "a potter".
In the family
The permanent and temporary exhibitions, along with the residency project for artists, academics, decorators, and students, are not the foundation's only initiatives to promote debate and reflection on the artistic, cultural, and historical significance of ceramics. The educational project aims to attract families to Linhó with special programmes, ranging from visits, lectures, and workshops to picnics in the garden, where there might be a sculpture park and performances.
Mariana Albuquerque also adds that negotiations are underway with the Câmara Municipal de Sintra to have one day a week with free entry for students.