On my first day in Madrid, after getting settled and some initial exploration, I visited the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, and enjoyed seeing their expansive collection of art. Afterwards, while enjoying a moment of rest and having some tapas at an outdoor restaurant, I noticed a store across the street which grabbed my attention. Between the unique font of the store name, and the flowers arranged over this painting of ceramics, I knew I wanted to take a closer look after lunch. Unfortunately, my timing was not good, as it was closed for the afternoon siesta. But a little window browsing revealed the character shown above, along with some more which I’ll share below.
Morueco Cerámicas was founded in 2023 by graphic designer Sete Morueco, who has made some of the creations himself, in addition to having unique ceramic pieces that have been made all over the world.
Here’s another ceramic head, this one is called “Head of Poseidon” and comes from the Morueco “Myths and Legends Collection.” This unique piece shows a magnificent representation of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, adorned with corals, fish, and starfish. Measuring approximately 17 inches tall, this head is slightly larger than life (although if I had all of that marine life attached to my head, maybe I’d be about the same size – ha!).
It’s not just ceramic heads in this store, as evidenced by this beautifully intricate set of butterfly tiles – using these as a backsplash or even just an artistic flourish to a wall would be pretty cool (assuming there’s more than just these 4 available – of which I’m not sure).
Since I was limited to window browsing while the store was closed, you can see that they also have more-traditional ceramic vessels here and a section that they call “Utility Animals.” I did not make it back to this neighborhood at a later time in order to get inside, which I do regret. I do have the beginnings of a ceramics collection and would have most likely bought something here if it had been open.