Artesanos Leoneses
TELEPHONE:
ADDRESS:
Calle Buen Suceso nº 29 A – 24007 León
ACTIVITY
Artesanos Leoneses is a family workshop that hums with activity, enthusiasm and personal research into various artistic fields. It takes orders for numerous special items, whether for restoration or new manufacture, for both national and international clients.
Its outstanding figure was the master craftsman Epigmenio Llamazares… Gutiérrez, who started at the age of 10 in the trade which he plied all his life. At 17 he won the Spanish woodcraft championship, competing with 60 champions from other provinces.
This master artisan passed on his knowledge, techniques and innovations to his four children, teaching them joinery, carpentry, ironwork, carving, marquetry, painting, sculpture, stained glass, modelling, woodturning, grillwork, weaving, upholstery, patinas, finishes, etc. They have ended up specialising in the fields of artwork restoration and the manufacture of artefacts of all sorts. Epigmenio’s philosophy was that a good restorer should master many crafts, handling thousands of diverse items, using period and antique materials so that pieces may be restored without losing value, and lastly but no less importantly, mastering the techniques and secrets of patinas and finishes.
These artisans’ work is characterised by the use of traditional techniques and tools that have been largely forgotten, for reasons of convenience or of saving time. Artesanos Leonenses keeps such tools alive, as only they yield the results and quality that they aim for.
The workshop has a great reserve stock of old and precious materials for restorations, accumulated over more than 60 years’ work and now impossible to find elsewhere.
TRAINING
The firm was set up by Epigmenio Llamazares Gutiérrez (father and master artisan), who, at the age of 7, given his artistic ability, was sent to the Arts and Crafts School in León. He won many competitions and worked in several workshops from the ages… of 14 to 20, and then set up his own workshop. Over the years, using his wits and his hands, he created, restored and transformed thousands of assorted artefacts. His hard work and resolve turned him into a grand-master craftsman. He passed on his knowledge to his four children, teaching them the techniques of drawing, painting, carving, turning, etc.
His children were proud of him, and would seek his advice and guidance. He taught them to work with such fine and handsome materials as wood, stone, wrought iron, glass, bulrushes, reeds, brass, bronze, etc., with the corresponding techniques, secrets, patinas and finishes.
SELECTED WORK
Over the years the firm has done work of all kinds and on all scales, in building and also restoration: offices, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, chapels, joinery (windows, doors, bay windows, gates, beams, etc.), carving, Mudéjar wooden ceilings, staircases, sculptures, oil paintings, etc.
Some notable… examples:
– Building of helical staircases
– Restoration of Gothic doors in León Cathedral
– Restoration of the altarpiece of the Holy Trinity in Sahagún
– Building of a two-faced wooden, wrought-iron and glass clock (diameter of 5 m)
– Restoration of the altarpiece of Juara (collapsed and deemed a write-off by the diocese)
– Building of a wooden pier
– Manufacture of musical aeolian doors
– Palace of Riolago in Babia (construction and restoration of furniture)
– Construction of 300 altars for the diocese
– Manufacture of altarpieces
