The collections included in our permanent exhibition are part of the assets belonging to Real Companhia Velha. These assets comprise a number of collections, namely paintings, farm tools and instruments, films, posters and prints, photographs and also the Company’s important documentary archive, currently held at the Douro Museum.
In our permanent exhibition you may observe some of this important documentary collection consisting of different documents and manuscripts. These include examples of the Appellation inventories, Records of Skippers’ Deeds, the Royal Charter, the Alphabet of the Upper Douro Demarcations, Export Records and also a number of Account Books. The photographic collection is represented here by a selection of photographs from the Domingos Alvão Collection.
The ethnographic exhibits are based on the vitiviniculture of the Douro region. These objects hail from estates and cellars that are part of Real Companhia Velha’s heritage. The exhibition has a selection of historic bottles that reveal of the history and evolution of Port wine production at the Company. As part of our painting collection on display in the permanent exhibition, we highlight important works such as the portraits of King D. José I, of the Marquis of Pombal and two watercolours of Cachão da Valeira (before and after its demolition). This exhibition also offers other types of assets that are important for the history of Port Wine and that of Real Companhia Velha. In particular, a Feitoria stone pillar, a large collection of stencils, a number of print matrices, among other objects. These assets, included in the Museum’s exhibition, portray the history of a region and the activity of the Company that was responsible for its development.
