The Tartessian culture, the Phoenicians, the Graeco-Roman heritage and Islam represent an amalgam of techniques and styles that are still alive in Andalucían crafts. These give them a distinct personality.
Many objects have long ceased to be functional, together with the appearance of new materials and mass production, many crafts are in danger of disappearing altogether. Careful restoration and conservation of the work of past generations together with new approach to the use made of articless, enables us to see good prospects for the principal traditional crafts. There is also a growing activity of craftsmen who, while respecting past techniques and styles, now enjoy much aclaim developing their own designs.
Though popular Andalucían furniture, utilitarian and rustic, is tending to disappear, cabinetwork now aims at a stylish piece of furniture, luxurious and ornamental. These two lines are produced throughout the region, plus all the classic styles, but with their own characteristics decoration. Techniques and local wood create their own personality.
Daniel Lopez - Designer of traditional Spanish FurnitureIn the province of Málaga, for example, Ronda has defined an up-to-date line of classic Spanish furniture and another line of near rustic furniture, being sober and elegant in its own design. At the same time, cabinetwork in Granada stands out for the use it makes of precious stones in combination with other first class materials, such as ivory, bones and other incrustations. Intarsia is an example par excellence of Arabic presence, a technique of marquetry that combines different ranges and shades of wood with incrustations of other material, most typical of Granada.
Granada is one of the main producers of guitars in Spain, followed by Sevilla, Córdoba and Almería; they are all of excellent quality, made from fine woods.
Crafts carried out with vegetable fibres are normally connected with agricultural work, or rural homes, though this type of production also reaches the larger cities nowadays. The range extends from pieces of furniture to small articles made of materials like wicker, rattan, bamboo or rush.
Many places in Sevilla and Cádiz still have workshops that make excellent horse-drawn carriages, typical of certain Andalucían cities, celebrations and pilgrimages. Other crafts characteristic of Andalucía are religious cabinetwork, ceiling coffers, carving, gilding, turnery, tapestry, chairmaking and barrelmaking, principally in winemaking areas like Cádiz, Huelva and Córdoba.As regards pottery, Málaga is known for metallic reflections; Sevilla, for the potters of Triana; Córdoba, for places like Lucena and La Rambla; Granada, for pottery from Fajalzuaz; Almería, for pottery from Jimena; Huelva, for the pitchers from Trigueros; Jaén, for pottery from Bailén and Andújar. The traditional pottery from Granada is specially attractive, with Moorish influences, and so are the Sevillian reproductions from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and the caliphal pottery from Córdoba.
Traditional pottery is, of all the occupations, the one that seems to have least prospects, for its products have lost functionality in favour of plastic and aluminium. However, tiles and bricks are still made and so are pitchers and flower pots, glazed earthenware jars and bowls, earthenware pitchers with spout and handle and ashtrays, all with a touch of exquisite originality. In the present time, products and styles have been diversified, achieving a wide range that combines traditional glazes with modern style, principally for decorative use, among which we must mention the decoration of architectural objects, such as gargoyles and tiles for street names and decorating establishments.
Marble and stone carvers in Andalucía are known for traditional work in tombstones, pantheons and decorative elements and Jaén is well known for ashlars; there are abundant workshops in the province of Málaga, such as the Colegiata at Antequera and the marble quarry at Macael in Almería is famous, rivalling with Carrara in matters of purity. A unique case in this context is the House of Stone (Casa de la Piedra) in Porcuna, Jaén province.
Glass of high quality was already made in Almería in the 13th century, that of Maria was well known, and there is now an excellent workshop in the municipality of Roquetas de Mar. In Málaga, the delicate Arabic decoration upon glass and glass cutting upon blown crystal, as well as artistic stained glass windows and Tiffany-inspired lamps is still done. La Trinidad glass factory in Sevilla is one of the most typical examples of what could be called industrial archaeology, for its admirable work of investigation and creation. Lastly, there are two glass artisans in the province of Jaén, specialists in artistic stained glass at Bailén and Ubeda.
Metal crafts, and especially iron forging and copper and brass work have given Andalucía a special identity. Lucena in the province of Córdoba being the principal centre of metal work in all Spain, and Sevilla being one of the main places for artistic casting. Today iron forging is still very much alive in Andalucía: artist locksmiths, grilles for doors and windows, balconies, wall lamps, gates, and all sorts of different objects made of brass, tin, copper and bronze, such as umbrella stands and other domestic objects. In Granada, metal crafts are full of reminiscences of a Muslim past, mainly boilermakers, blacksmiths and tinsmiths, the latter devoted to making very decorative lanterns.
Córdoba was the city that made Andalucían leather famous, particularly for its quality and embossing techniques. Nowadays, there are still a few workshops that use refined techniques in Córdoba and Granada, while leather goods are made all over the region (purses, wallets, belts etc.). The great place for leather goods in Spain is Ubrique, in the province of Cádiz, known in Europe for the quality of its articles, especially purses and travel bags. Harness makers are other craftsmen well known in Andalucía, for their leather embroidery and saddles. The making of packsaddles has always been important in Andalucía, particularly in rural areas, but has lost a lot of ground in latter years. Leather articles for shooting - gamebags, gun cases, chaps and bags - are other artisan specialities. Special mention should be made of the handmade boots of Valverde del Camino in the province of Huelva, excellent for riding. Other handmade footwear may be found in Almería, Antequera (Málaga) and Montoro (Córdoba).
There are a good many looms in the Andalucían provinces, though hand looms only exist still in the more undeveloped areas for local supply. Right now, this crafts is responding to external demand rather than local. Examples are wool blankets from Grazalema in Cádiz, or "jarapas" (carpets woven coarsely with bits of different coloured materials) from Almería. In Málaga there is "La Madraza" loom, traditional makers of carpets, tapestry and other decorative textiles with motifs from the 17th and 18th centuries. In Granada, embroidery on tulle is well known, and carpet and tapestry weaving. the textiles, describes as "alpujarreños" (from the district of the Alpujurras), "granadinos" (from Granada) or burled, conserve the Muslim tradition, the same for hand made carpets. There are likewise, excellent hand embroiderers, makers of the frilly "flamenco" dresses, embroidered silk shawls ("mantón de Manila"), mantillas and lace.