Artesania Rinconada

Artesania Rinconada figurines are carefully hand-carved and detailed in fine grain earthenware ceramic material. After initial kiln firing, decoration continues with the hand application of colored slips and enamel glazes used to accent and highlight individual design characteristics. Each enamel glaze must be re-fired individually in order to preserve its distinctive coloration.

Rinconada’s Classic Collection of handcrafted ceramic design was created by twin brothers Jesus and Javier Carbajales during the fall of 1972 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Carbajales were born in Spain in 1930 and moved to Uruguay when the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936. The brothers, however, did not forget their artistic roots. They were strongly influenced by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro; three Spanish artists whose work dominated the first half of the 20th century.

The Carbajales chose nature as their subject and their sculptures blend a traditional South American Style with a surrealist flair. The name Artesania Rinconada is a Spanish phrase meaning “Art of the corner” or “Corner art” and was chosen because the brothers worked out of a small corner of their living room for many years. Although Jesus and Javier can no longer confine themselves to a small corner studio. The brothers continually refer to their work as Artesania Rinconada and carve the initials AR into each of their original designs.

In recent years Rinconada has evolved under a new factory director with exciting new creativity and artistic vision. As a young man in Montevideo, Uruguay Jorge De Rosa apprenticed in the field of hand-crafted ceramics. He studied all aspects of ceramic design and artistic development under the guidance of his father, Jorge De Rosa Thompson, who co-founded Artesania Rinconada S.R.L. along with twin brothers Jesus and Javier Carbajales in the early 1970’s. Jorge became the Director of the Rinconada factory on January 1, 1996 and has collaborated with Jesus and Javier in implementing creative new techniques to Rinconada design. Under his leadership Artesania Rinconada developed a series of gold and platinum accented animal figurines to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Classic Collection. These new designs formed the beginning of the Silver Anniversary Collection which is successfully leading Artesania Rinconada into the 21st Century.

Other new developments spearheaded by De Rosa’s efforts are the De Rosa Box Collection which was introduced in the Fall of 2001 and the Rincababies series to be introduced the Spring of 2002. The De Rosa Box Collection is the result of design collaboration between De Rosa and Olga Pareja, the designer who brought us the Professional Cat Series years ago. The Rincababies are designed by Jesus Carbajales with collaboration from De Rosa. This collaboration between artists has proven to result in superior designs which continue to win over even the most avid admirers and collectors of Rinconada design.

Variations occur in carving style and paint selection with each individual artist. No two figurines are exactly the same, creating a uniqueness in style and artistic personality rarely found in the world of collectible figurines. The following are the stages of development in the manufacturing of the Artesania Rinconada designs.

Stages of Development