González Martí National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts
Museum housed in the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas
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| Established | 1947 |
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| Location | Valencia, Spain |
| Coordinates | 39°28′24″N 0°22′28″W / 39.473317°N 0.374406°W |
| Type | Art museum |
| Director | Jaume Coll Conesa |
| Public transit access | Colón Underground Station |
| Website | Museum website |
The National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts "González Martí" (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Cerámica y de las Artes Suntuarias González Martí), located in Valencia, Spain, is a museum dedicated to ceramics (with special importance to Valencian ceramics), porcelains and other decorative arts such as textile art, traditional costumes and furniture.
Housed in the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas, it was founded on 7 February 1947, from the donation of Manuel González Martí’s ceramics collection. Seven years later, once the restoration of the palace was completed, the museum opened to the public on 18 June 1954.
The palace, originally a Gothic building, was fully reshaped to Baroque in the mid-18th century, when Hipolito Rovira designed its façade, made by the Valencian sculptor Ignacio Vergara. Nowadays, as the result of several later remodelings, it combines mainly Rococo, Neoclassical and Oriental style.
Declared a historical-artistic monument in 1941, the building was bought by state in 1949 to locate Gonzalez Martí ceramics collection. Since then, there have been numerous interventions, including infrastructure improvements and renovation of the museum spaces. The last restoration took place between 1990 and 1998, carried out by the architect Ginés Sánchez Hevia.
Mostly dedicated to temporary exhibitions, in this floor is the remarkable "carriage patio" (named this way because it was the carriage house and the stables) and the main stairs.
The first floor spans the private rooms of the Marquis de Dos Aguas, decorated with stucco, wall and ceiling paintings made by artists such as Plácido Frances y Pascual, José Felipe Parra and José Brel Guiralt in the 19th century. Marble floors are of different colors, with the initials "MD", corresponding at the Marquis de Dos Aguas.
Outstanding rooms are The Ballroom, the Red Room, the Eastern Sitting Room (also known as the Porcelain Sitting Room), equipped with part of the original furniture. Furthermore, all rooms are ornamented with works of art, lamps, clocks, vases, etc.; reflecting the elegance and style of the time.
Divided in several rooms, this whole floor is entirely dedicated to the exhibition of the ceramics collection, including one adapted to reproduce a typical Valencian kitchen, designed by self-Manuel González Martí, with mosaics, friezes and decorative panels of the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration of this space is complemented with popular contemporary ceramic pots and copper objects.
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Wikipedia