Founded by Liliana Silva in Barcelos, Terrakota blends Portuguese ceramic traditions with modern aesthetics, offering handcrafted pieces celebrating Minho’s cultural heritage.
In Barcelos, a city renowned for its ceramic tradition, Terrakota emerges as a thoughtful blend of ancestral craft and modern aesthetics. Each piece, carefully shaped on a potter’s wheel, serves as an expression of memory and cultural identity, reimagined through the creative hands of Liliana Silva. There’s a quiet reverence in the way the brand approaches form, texture, and color—an understanding that objects made by hand carry more than function; they carry meaning.
Liliana Silva founded Terrakota in 2020, driven by a profound connection to ceramics inherited from her father and paternal grandfather, both accomplished potters. After spending years in London and studying Fashion and Footwear Design, Liliana returned to Portugal with a vision to create something personal, deeply inspired by cherished childhood memories spent with her grandparents in Barcelos. Terrakota thus arose as an artistic extension of an ancestral craft, seamlessly blending tradition and innovation. It is as much a return to her origins as it is a statement of creative independence.
From early on, Liliana knew she didn’t want to replicate the past but reinterpret it. The wheel of the potter became not just a tool, but a medium through which generations of knowledge could be reshaped into something resolutely contemporary. Through Terrakota, she seeks to preserve the memory of her family’s craftsmanship while adapting it to modern sensibilities and spaces.
The creative philosophy behind Terrakota emphasizes artisanal methods, with each ceramic object meticulously handcrafted on a potter’s wheel. The process is slow and deliberate, reflecting a resistance to mass production and an embrace of slowness as a form of respect—for the material, for the tradition, and for the individual who will one day live with the object. Terrakota pieces are not designed to dominate a room, but to become part of its rhythm.
The brand distinguishes itself through the originality of its forms and vibrant color palette, encapsulating a contemporary style enriched by traditional influences. Liliana believes strongly in this fusion, rooted in profound cultural awareness and the rich identity of Minho, resulting in products marked by both innovation and quality. The colors—carefully curated and inspired by the Portuguese landscape—range from terracotta to sea green and cobalt blue, evoking both place and emotion.
As Liliana explains, “I am inspired by everything Portuguese, largely because I live in the north and am surrounded by many characteristic elements; they are certainly a good base of inspiration for my creations,” Liliana shared in an interview on the brand’s ‘Find My Style’ page. Her recent work with large-scale formats reflects her evolving interest in proportion and presence. “This past year I have been working with larger formats, because the scale and proportions of the pieces are something that challenge and fascinate me,” she added in the same interview.
Terrakota’s range includes vases, jugs, and lamps, notable examples being the XXL Popcorn Jug and the Connection Lamp, the latter featuring hand-painted matte finishes paired elegantly with linen lampshades. These are not merely decorative items; they act as small altars to the everyday—objects that quietly elevate domestic life.
Each item embodies the brand’s core values—naturalness, simplicity, and authenticity—and seeks to evoke joy, happiness, and harmony through bold, modern forms and colors. Their silhouettes, while clean and contemporary, retain echoes of vernacular pottery traditions, anchoring them in a shared cultural memory. Terrakota’s collections speak to those who find beauty in restraint, and who value heritage not as nostalgia, but as continuity.
Through exhibitions, editorial features, and a growing international audience, Terrakota contributes to a renewed appreciation for Portuguese design rooted in place and process. As more people seek meaningful connections with the objects they bring into their homes, the brand’s quiet ethos resonates deeply.
Ultimately, Terrakota represents a thoughtful continuation of Portugal’s ceramic traditions, reinterpreted through a distinctly contemporary lens. By merging memory with innovation, the brand creates objects that tangibly reflect Minho’s culture and identity. They invite slowness, contemplation, and care—qualities increasingly rare, and all the more vital.
Terrakota belongs on THE PORTUGUESE LIST not only for its excellence in design and craftsmanship but for the way it honors the past while shaping the future of Portuguese artisan expression.