Almeida, Adérito

Portugal, 1967–2023

Adérito Almeida worked throughout his life as a potter. He was apprenticed to José Maria Rodrigues (1906–1999), with whom he learned to work with clay, and from whom he “inherited” a wheel that he proudly displayed—although he was keen to point out that he did not use it in his own practice. His preferred raw material was clay sourced from the Termas do Carvalhal, which was dried in the sun, crushed, and sieved to remove sand and impurities before being kneaded. He then shaped pieces that were often highly detailed, although he also enjoyed leaving some with a rougher structure. His repertoire included Christs, angels, Last Suppers, musicians, totems, and sphinxes. Egyptian figures were also of particular importance to him. He associated them with Neolithic techniques, firing them, much as in antiquity, in a soenga [traditional open firing pit]. “Any piece must be completely dry before going into the soenga. If not, it may burst during firing. That’s why there can never be any haste—neither in making the pieces nor, even more so, in firing them.”