Alberto and Francisco Miguel Alameda Sevilla are brothers who work together in Cerámica Alameda, a firm they joined in 1997 and 2000 respectively, as the eighth generation of a family of potters.

Their output largely involves the traditional earthenware techniques of Úbeda, consisting of ceramics fired… once only at 980ºC. Their artefacts are made largely with red clay, to which slip is applied with an immersion bath. Finally, the items are glazed with transparent enamel. The various colour tones in their work are achieved by adding a range of metal oxides to the slip.

Some of the items they make are:

– Arched tiles: made by placing a slab of clay over a mould, so that the clay progressively takes its shape.

– Cordovan tiles: made on the wheel, first by forming a “glass” that is then turned over so as to make the smaller opening. In the case of monk tiles, the clay is compressed. The resulting clay tubes are then cut so that each one yields two tiles.

– Fish-scale or Florentine tiles: formed with plaster moulds which they make themselves. The first-course tiles have a special design, to make a straight line with the eave.

– Tiles made with grailla wooden moulds, which are filled with very soft clay that shrinks considerably as they dry. Unlike adobe slabs, these contain no straw and are fired in the kiln.

– Floor, plinth and sill tiles, finials, hemispherical and diamond-tip light fittings.

– Tile decoration with the cuerda seca method and other techniques.

Although their trade is pottery, market demands have led them to focus their output on products for construction, to the point that in recent years these have accounted for almost all of their work.

What is significant in what they do is that ceramic objects of all kinds are made as they have been over history, with the same processes and finishes as have been used for centuries, albeit combined with developments in the ceramics industry.