Quinta das Cruzes Museum

The Museum
Quinta das Cruzes is one of the estates with the greatest historic tradition in the bay of Funchal, connected with the family of the first donee captains who carried out works at the end of the 15th century, start of the 16th century. A small construction started by João Gonçalves Zarco (1425-1467?), was extended by his son João Gonçalves da Câmara. It remained in the Câmara family until the mid-17th century moving through matrimonial alliances, to the Lomelino family, by the end of the 19th century.

Today Quinta das Cruzes has been harmonised by major works carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like many of the old Madeiran estates, it has a chapel, in this case evoking Nossa Senhora da Piedade and probably completed in 1692. There is also the casinha de prazer (Summer house) where leisurely afternoons were spent looking at the sea and the street from where the news arrived.

In the tradition of the portuguese leisure estates, it is first and foremost a leisure and not an agricultural facility, with a large garden where rare species were brought together from all four corners of the globe.

The Museu Quinta das Cruzes opened to the public in 1953, bringing together the original collection of decorative arts by César Filipe Gomes, a Madeiran collector. During its history it was enriched by other donations such as that of João Wetzler, of essentially European silver from the 17th to the 19th centuries. As an open collection of Portuguese and European decorative arts, it has been augmented by various donations and acquisitions until today.

Of the group, worthy of special mention is the collection of furniture and other European art objects, particularly English, as a consequence of the strong presence of this community connected with the Madeira Wine trade. Also worthy of special mention are the so-called Chippendale furniture pieces, or a notable collection of paintings, drawings, water colours and engravings from the mid-18th century and particularly the 19th century about Madeira.

Also worthy of special note is a significant set of furniture called caixa de açúcar (sugar chest), made on the island under the direct influence of Portuguese furniture in the mid-17th century, using to this end many of the imported exotic woods, particularly from Brazil, in which the sugar was packaged for local production of one strong sweetmeats and jams industry, after the crisis in Madeiran sugar production since the mid-16th century.

In the collections, worthy of mention is the goldsmithery collection, particularly the Portuguese salver with a stand from the late 15th century or the “Porta Paz” (flat ecclesiastical tablet) from the early 16th century. The Museum also has a collection of Portuguese and European jewellery, particularly from the 18th and 19th centuries, or a nucleus of glyptic art, with Roman and modern carvings as well as cameos. In ceramics, worthy of special mention is the set of Chinese porcelain with examples from the 16th to the 18th centuries, or Portuguese earthenware from the mid-17th century to the 19th century.

There is also a collection of Indo-Portuguese works of art, as well some Portuguese-Oriental, with examples from Goa from the mid-17th and 18th centuries, or a japanese Namban cabinet from the late 16th century.

As regards sculpture, worthy of special mention is the set of clay figures from the nativity scene produced in Portugal particularly in the 18th century, emphasising some which were probably produced locally at the same time. Also worthy of mention is the Flemish retable from the Brussels region in the late 15th century.

The Museum has an archaeological and epigraphic collection whose parts derive from demolitions, particularly from Funchal during the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, constructions from the 16th to the 19th centuries and forming part of the Estate garden in a montage with a Romantic flavour.

Walking through the garden, all he coiled by typically Madeiran small rolled stones paths, alongside the flower beds or on walls, we are surprised by fountains and other water effects as well as frescos from the mid-18th century.


Services

Education
The Museum has educational services with their own technicians supporting the relationship with the various publics, children, young people, senior citizens and special needs.

Library
It has a documental and bibliographic collection supporting the study of the collections, the history of Madeira and Museology, being made available to researchers, teachers and students for researching academic works.

Store
At the Museum Reception/Store sale and distribution of informative material such as newsletters, book guides, postcards, posters, catalogues about the Museum, its collections or temporary events. Also sells reproductions of some pieces of the collections or from other Museums in the Region.

Cafeteria
In the Museum gardens there is a cafeteria esplanade for the visitors.