Batalha Collection

FERNANDO GRADE — MATTER, MEMORY AND TERRITORY 🖼️🔥

Some works seem to be born from the earth itself. This magnificent oil on canvas by Faro artist Fernando Grade carries that telluric, dense and almost archaeological strength: a painting made of matter, texture, silence and depth.

The composition reveals itself as a fragmented territory, somewhere between rock, skin, shadow and light. The intense browns, torn whites, deep blacks and warm accents create an inner landscape, almost geological, where the eye loses itself among layers, fissures, organic forms and hidden memories. There is something visceral in this work — as if we were standing before an ancient map, a wall excavated by time, or a landscape seen from within.

Fernando Grade, an artist from Faro, works here with an intense and very personal language, where painting gains body, weight and breath. His work reveals a strong relationship with matter, with the structure of composition and with the silent energy of places, creating images that do not reveal themselves immediately, but make us stay, look and feel.

A piece of great presence, deeply decorative and emotional, perfect for those seeking contemporary Portuguese painting with character, density and soul.

Oil on canvas.
Artist: Fernando Grade, Faro.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

🖼️🔥

PORTUGUESE VASES — BLUE AND WHITE WITH AN APOTHECARY SOUL 🩵✨

Some sets gain their strength through repetition, rhythm and presence. These Portuguese faience vases, dating from the 19th/20th century, have that antique and decorative charm that immediately transforms a shelf, display cabinet or wall into a setting full of memory.

The blue decoration over the cream-coloured ground gives them a very Portuguese elegance — simple, luminous and timeless. Among garlands, bows, leaves, monograms and small hand-painted scenes, each vase holds its own personality, yet all speak the same language: that of traditional faience, popular, poetic and deeply decorative.

I particularly love their classical shape, raised foot, open mouth and the patina of time, visible in the small marks, the glaze and the natural wear. They are pieces with soul, presence and that imperfect beauty only antique objects can possess.

Perfect for a kitchen with character, a room full of history, a collection of Portuguese faience or an interior inspired by an old apothecary.

Set of Portuguese blue and white faience vases, 19th/20th century.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

🩵✨

19TH-CENTURY PORTUGUESE TUREEN — FAIENCE WITH POPULAR CHARM 🌿✨

Some pieces carry with them the old flavour of great Portuguese tables, lived-in homes, long meals and the simple beauty of an object made by hand. This 19th-century Portuguese tureen, in polychrome faience, is one of those pieces full of soul, presence and memory.

I am especially charmed by its octagonal shape, generous body, high lid with worked handle, and naïve, almost pictorial decoration with landscapes, trees, houses, water and small boats. The green, blue and brown tones, together with the floral details, give it a very Portuguese, popular and decorative expression, where each brushstroke seems to tell a small story of countryside, river and tradition.

The craquelure of the glaze, the marks of time and the natural imperfections of antique faience make this tureen even more special. They are signs of authenticity, use and life — precisely what distinguishes an antique piece from an object without memory. I see in it a frank, warm and highly decorative beauty, perfect for a table with character, a faience display cabinet or a composition of Portuguese antiques.

Polychrome Portuguese faience tureen, 19th century.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

🌿✨

LEDA AND THE SWANS — MARTINHO DIAS 🦢✨

Some works seem to be born between dream, myth and the restlessness of gesture. This composition by Martinho Dias, entitled “Leda and the Swans”, in coloured crayon on Fabriano paper, is a vibrant, sensual and absolutely magnetic piece, where the female figure appears suspended in a universe of movement, contrast and fantasy.

The reclining body of Leda, enveloped in intense reds, deep blacks and sharp whites, enters into dialogue with the presence of the swans in a composition full of graphic energy. There is an almost theatrical freedom here: the scratched, nervous and expressive line gives rhythm to the work, while the colour adds warmth, desire and drama. It is a contemporary interpretation of a classical theme, without losing the poetic force of the myth.

Martinho Dias, born in 1968, is a contemporary Portuguese visual artist associated with figurative and conceptual painting, trained in Fine Arts/Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. His work often brings together irony, narrative tension, social critique and symbolic imagery, creating compositions in which the human figure appears charged with theatricality, humour and visual provocation.

A recent piece, dated 2024, with enormous decorative strength and a very special presence. Contemporary Portuguese art with soul, sensuality and character.

Coloured crayon on Fabriano paper.
Title: “Leda and the Swans”.
Artist: Martinho Dias.
Year: 2024.

ARTUR WING PINERO

PORTUGUESE OCTAGONAL PLATTER — BLUE AND WHITE WITH MEMORY 🩵✨

There are faience pieces that preserve an absolutely charming simplicity. This Portuguese octagonal platter, dating from the 19th/20th century, has that honest, popular beauty I love so much: the light glaze, the intense blue, the hand-painted decoration and that antique presence only time can give.

At the centre, a naïve and poetic landscape appears, with a small building among trees, painted in shades of blue on a white ground. The floral border, also in blue, surrounds the composition with rhythm and delicacy, creating a very decorative, luminous piece full of character. The small signs of use, the craquelure of the glaze and the natural imperfections of the faience give it even more soul — they are signs of life, of table, of home, of history.

It is a platter that works beautifully both as a functional piece and as a decorative object, perfect for a wall, a side table, a display cabinet or a composition of antique faience pieces. It has that Portuguese charm, unpretentious and authentic, that warms any interior and immediately connects us to tradition.

Portuguese faience octagonal platter, blue and white decoration, 19th/20th century.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

🩵✨

GÖTE MÖBLER LOUNGE CHAIR — COMFORT WITH A NORDIC SOUL 🖤✨

Some design pieces do not need to raise their voice to impose their presence. This adjustable lounge chair in grey leather, with footstool, dating from the 1965/70 period, attributed/designed by G**e Möbler, has that quiet, elegant and deeply comfortable presence we associate with the finest Scandinavian design: clean lines, warm wood, generous proportions and an immediate sense of relaxation.

The contrast between the grey leather, beautifully marked by time and use, and the reddish-toned wooden structure creates a wonderful combination — masculine, sober and welcoming. I particularly love the adjustable reclining backrest, the wide curved arms and the way the footstool completes the piece, turning it almost into a private retreat within the home. This is a chair made for reading, thinking, resting, listening to music… a piece of genuine comfort.

It has that unmistakable charm of vintage pieces from the 60s/70s that do not hide their history: leather with life, wood with warmth, and a silhouette full of character. It is not just a chair; it is an invitation to pause. A perfect piece for an office, living room, library or special reading corner, where design and comfort meet naturally.

Adjustable lounge chair in grey leather, with wooden structure and footstool. Scandinavian/vintage design, 1965/70 period, attributable to G**e Möbler.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

🖤✨

DALILA D’ALTE — SURREALIST COMPOSITION ✒️🌑

There are works that do not reveal themselves all at once — they draw us in slowly, like a dream unfolding in silence. This surrealist composition by Dalila D’Alte, executed in pen and collage on board, lives precisely in that suspended territory between imagination and mystery, where forms, symbols and fragments seem to speak their own secret language.

I am deeply drawn to the strength of this black-and-white universe. The circular elements, the mechanical shapes, the floating figure, the sharp lines and the organic curves create an almost cosmic tension, as if we were standing before an inner map of thought, memory and invention. It is a work of great graphic intelligence, but also of emotion — austere in colour, yet immensely rich in rhythm, movement and poetic suggestion.

What fascinates me most is this dialogue between precision and enigma. Each section appears to open a different realm: celestial, mechanical, symbolic, almost architectural. The collage introduces disruption, while the pen restores discipline and flow. The result is a striking composition, sophisticated and contemplative, with that rare power to transform a wall into a place of reflection and wonder. ✨

Work by the artist Dalila D’Alte.
Pen and collage on board.
Approx. dimensions: 25.5 x 27 cm.

Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL SILVER-GILT EWER — MYTH, LIGHT AND GRANDEUR 🦢✨
Some pieces do not simply decorate a room: they command presence. This French neoclassical silver-gilt ewer is one of those ceremonial works that seems made for the light of grand interiors, for the formal table, for the elegant and theatrical gesture of serving.
Dated to the 19th century, 1st quarter, it reveals all the refinement of French neoclassical taste: finely chased bands with swans drinking from cups among vegetal scrolls, relief medallions depicting Europa and Neptune, and an absolutely sculptural handle, worked with a satyr’s head and mascaron. Every detail breathes mythology, power, water, abundance and seduction — as if the ewer were less a utilitarian object and more a small architecture of gold.
The silver-gilt surface gives it a warm, almost solar vibration. Its body reflects everything around it, but above all it reflects an age: imperial elegance, classical taste, the mastery of French silversmiths and that ancient pleasure of transforming function into beauty. It is a rare, intense, aristocratic piece, made for those who understand that true antiquity is not only matter — it is memory, symbol and emotion. 🏛️
French ewer, 19th century, 1st quarter. Marked silver-gilt. Ewer height: 30.8 cm. Basin: 7.8 x 28.2 cm. Total weight: 1,444 g. Under Decree-Law no. 120/2017 of 15 September — article 2, no. 2, paragraph c).
Available at Batalha Collection (Faro) / reservation and shipping.

PABLO PICASSO