Jean-Pierre Mateus’ biography, from Portugal to CERFAV
The story of the Mateus family within glass craft started in the 1940s in the city of Alcobaça in Portugal, when Jean-Pierre’s grandfather welcomed a Murano glass-master into his house. At that time, in Alcobaça there was a glass factory specialized in the production of Murano-style chandelier. This Venetian glassblower came to this city to train the Portuguese glassmakers in the Murano glass know-how, in the context of subcontracting the Murano glass manufacturing around the world to be able to achieve their glass production and the reproduction of specific Murano glass objects. While this Murano glass-master was renting a room in Jean-Pierre’s grandfather’s house, Jean-Pierre’s father used to go with him to the glass factory, because it was on the same route as school (5 km from the house). And one day, when he was 10, because Jean-Pierre’s father school clothes were wet and he was afraid to be yelled at by his professor, he decided to dry his clothes in the glass factory. But when he entered the glass workshop, he remained hypnotized by the glass work and instead of drying his clothes in 5 minutes, he stayed all day in the glass workshop and didn’t go to school. The teacher told Jean-Pierre’s grandfather that his father didn’t come to school, and so he asked his son to stop school and to start working. The Murano master decided to take care of Jean-Pierre’s father and to become his master in glass training.
