Madeira earthenware

The Porto Santo biosphere reserve's page on craftsmanship says the island once had the greatest variety of clay, including argil, pozzolan, chalk and marl, and that local clay was used to make bricks. Thick, sturdy bricks went into the Pico do Castelo fortress and into shelters. Raw clay, called salão, covered poor old dwellings: it cracked in summer but sealed up again after the first rain, so water could not get through. Roof shingles were also made and sold, stamped with the initials S.V., for Sebastião de Vasconcelos.

Artisans also made clay figurines of shepherds. They were once shaped by hand and dried in the sun, but today most are turned on a potter's wheel and fired in a kiln. Some clay pieces are kept in the Museu Etnográfico da Madeira and the Casa Museu Frederico de Freitas. The same page says clay craftsmanship, like other local crafts, is in decline, because the artisans are growing old and younger people show little interest. It gives no wider account of pottery on Madeira island itself, so this entry rests on Porto Santo alone.