A significant part of this collection of around 110 pieces of ceramics belonged to the former Estate of Mr. Emanuel Araújo, an important figure in Brasilian contemporary culture. The Berardo Collection enlarged this collection with a number of very expressive and some extremely exceptional pieces which were produced in the XIX and beginning of the XX century by some of the best ceramists from Caldas da Rainha. Two of the most famous and successful ceramists were Manuel Cipriano Gomes (1830-1905) and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905).

The first was know under the name Mafra (his hometown) and started working at a Caldas factory at the age of twenty which he leased with a fellow worker a few years later. King Fernando II became interested in him and commissioned him to work for the Royal House. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro was a talented caricaturist and ceramist. When he settled in Caldas da Rainha in 1884, his brother founded the `Faience Factory` where he soon assumed the artistic direction and made Caldas da Rainha internationally well-know for its fine ceramics. Besides a vast number of original single objects and glazed tiles (azulejos), he realized excellent decorations in mansions, family residencies and commercial establishments. In this collection, pieces of important and intrinsic rareness appear, with all in an excellent state of conservation.