About

Donated to the University of Aveiro by Francisco Madeira Luís in 2001, the glass collection consists of over 5,000 pieces of common glass, mostly of Portuguese manufacture and utilitarian in nature. The collection also includes some luxury items.

The time span covers the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, though there are also some objects from the late 18th century and early 19th century, as well as pieces made after 1950.

This collection is made up of pieces produced through free-blowing, mold-blowing, and pressed glass techniques. The decorative techniques are linked, in the latter two cases, to the manufacturing process, though sometimes additional decoration was applied to mold-blown and pressed glass using the same methods typically employed in freely blown glass production.

Nearly the entire collection consists of Portuguese glassware or pieces commonly used in Portugal, though there are some recognizably foreign examples. Among these pieces are varied objects such as footed trays, cruets, and bird drinkers, some of which were produced as early as the 18th century at the Royal Glass Factory of Marinha Grande. There are also objects associated with relatively recent social customs, such as the consumption of ginjinha (sour cherry liqueur), popularized since the mid-19th century, or the measured intake of medicinal doses using graduated glasses in thermal spas.