Capucine de Wulf Gooding Embraces the Vivid Nation’s Decorative Individualism

VERANDA a textile and would turn a tablecloth into a ball skirt, Portugal will love you. It is not a country of wealth, but it is a land of riches: artistic, historic, and the Portuguese people themselves.

When we started out making tableware 18 years ago, my husband, David, and I were determined to follow the craft. We’ll find whoever does it best, wherever that takes us, we decided. And what makes the Portuguese so phenomenal at their crafts is that they are exceptionally proud of their artistry and yet humble enough to innovate. They’re happy to nerd out with you and take such delight in the process—there’s no rush to the finish. It might explain why there’s no such thing as a quick meal in Portugal. The shortest lunch you can have is an hour and a half because, again, there is so much pride in everything they make, whether it’s a piece of fish or

And that’s not the same as perfection. You won’t find that here. In Portugal, you’ll find olive groves and crumbling yellow churches, cobblestone corridors and chiseled stone and brightly striped buildings, painted so returning fishermen can recognize them. It’s a country of spectacular tilework and hardback books and bread so good, I find myself defending it to my French grandmother. It’s a beautiful slowdown.

In Bussaco Palace Hotel’s bar terrace, “every pillar is carved a bit differently, with its own design,” notes Gooding (top right, in Juliska’s ceramic modeling studio in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal). Richly colored platters adorn a building in Óbidos Iberian indigo dessert plate Quinta cork centerpiece bowl; PORTUGAL