Royal Factory of La Moncloa (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Real Fábrica de La Moncloa''; variations: Moncloa Porcelain Factory, or Royal Porcelain Factory and Thin Earthenware of the Moncloa, or Real Fábrica de Loza de la Moncloa) ( es, Real Fábrica de La Moncloa) was a Spanish manufacturing plant for porcelain and ceramics which was in operation in the 19th century. The Royal Factory of La Moncloa was located in

Moncloa-Aravaca Moncloa-Aravaca is a district of the municipality of Madrid, Spain. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, spanning across both banks of the Manzanares. It is made up of the neighborhoods of Aravaca, Argüelles, Casa de Campo, Ciud ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, in a place called the Granjilla of Jeronimos in Cementerio de La Florida.

History

When the British attacked French positions in Madrid in 1812, during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

they damaged the

Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro (popularly called ''La China''; "Buen Retiro Porcelain Factory"; alternatively, Real Fábrica de Porcelana del Buen Retiro) was a porcelain manufacturing factory in Spain. It was located in Madrid's Parque del Buen Ret ...

, a porcelain factory on a site in the Buen Retiro Park. Later that year General Hill took his troops from Madrid to join the main army under Wellington near

Alba de Tormes Alba de Tormes is a municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The town is on the River Tormes upstream from the city of Salamanca. Alba gave its name to one of Spain's most i ...

. Before leaving the Spanish capital, the British burned what remained of the factory. Although the building had been fortified as part of French defensive positions in the park, it has been suggested that the destruction was at least in part caused by commercial rivalry on the part of the British, as it represented a

mercantilist Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduce ...

project designed to reduce the need for imports. Production resumed after the absolutist restoration, but at a new site in the

Moncloa Moncloa-Aravaca is a district of the municipality of Madrid, Spain. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, spanning across both banks of the Manzanares. It is made up of the neighborhoods of Aravaca, Argüelles, Casa de Campo, Ciud ...

district of Madrid in a building which had once been a villa of the Alva family on the

Manzanares River The Manzanares () is a river in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, which flows from the Sierra de Guadarrama, passes through Madrid, and eventually empties into the Jarama river, which in turn is a right-bank tributary to the Tagus. In its ...

. The Royal Factory of La Moncloa inherited personnel as well as moulds and other materials surviving from the old factory. Founded by

Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...

, the factory was patronized by his second wife, Queen

Maria Isabel of Portugal Maria Isabel of Braganza (Maria Isabel Francisca de Assis Antónia Carlota Joana Josefa Xavier de Paula Micaela Rafaela Isabel Gonzaga; 19 May 1797 – 26 December 1818) was an Infanta of Portugal who became Queen of Spain as the second wife of ...

. The first director was an Italian, Antonio Forni from the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory. There was a change of artistic policy under Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol, appointed to the position of acting director on 26 March 1821, and made the full director the following year. Sureda had been director of the Real Fábrica de Porcelana del Buen Retiro, and during his career he ran other royal factories such as the Real Fábrica de Paños in Guadalajara, and the Real Fábrica de Cristales de La Granja. Sureda was succeeded by

Eusebio Zuloaga Eusebio Zuloaga González (Madrid, 15 December 1808 - Deusto, Bilbao 1898), was a Spanish gunsmith. He is considered the initiator of the art of modern damascening. He was the first Spanish artist who achieved an international reputation, partici ...

(1808-1898). It continued to operate until 1849. It was revived in the 1870s, and was involved with architectural ceramics such as the tiles of the Palacio de Velazquez. In order to meet the requirements of the factory's pottery industry with technically trained personnel, a school of ceramic arts (''Escuela de Cerámica Artística'') was established in Moncloa, as well as a factory for the production of fine ''loza''. In 1877, of land was allotted for this purpose. In 1882, the Escuela de Cerámica Artística was divided to form Escuela Oficial de Cerámica (Official School of Ceramics) and the Escuela Madrileña de Cerámica de La Moncloa (Madrid School of Ceramics of La Moncloa). The schools came under pressure in 1911 from Francisco Alcántara. Subsidy grants to run the schools were formalized in 1914 through a royal decree under the title "Escuela de Ceramica Artistica".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Porcelana de La Moncloa

Centro Virtual Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important figur ...

Ceramics manufacturers of Spain Manufacturing companies established in 1817 Manufacturing companies based in Madrid Defunct manufacturing companies of Spain