Cantarinha dos Namorados de Guimarães | Large

Cantarinha dos Namorados is the most common name, but some people also call them Cantarinha das Prendas and Cantarinha de Guimarães.

It is moulded in red clay and decorated with archaic motifs sprinkled with white mica. The Cantarinha Maior signifies the abundance desired by the future couple. The smaller chanter, the one that will fill the larger one, and stripped of decorations, signifies the difficulties of life together. When a young man was ready to officially propose marriage, he would first offer his girlfriend a Cantarinha das Prendas. If this was accepted, the private proposal was formalised, and it only depended on the parents' wishes to announce the engagement.

Once their consent had been given and they had agreed on the dowry, the Cantarinha was then used to store the gifts that the groom and the bride's parents would give: cords, braids, hearts, crosses, butterflies, collected stars, reliquaries and other gold objects. This use has long since been discontinued. Today the tradition remains.

Despite its association with amorous imagery, the Cantarinha dos Namorados is a product of excellence in Portuguese pottery.