Rustic And Popular Industries

 

 

Since times immemorial the Asturian peasant obtained all that he needed to satisfy his daily needs from the countryside which surrounded him, as much in terms of the elaboration of products for domestic consumption(cheese, lard and butters, cider, bread etc.)as in those of clothing and footwear, the construction of living quarters and agricultural outbuildings, personal objects, gear, tackle, equipment, tools and furniture... as Jovellanos put it in 1782: "All We simple necessities for daily life are elaborated and constructed by these natural people".
Throughout all the territory a wide and varied network of family workshops was to be found which offered a wide variety of craftsmanship orientated to the local market as well as those outside Asturies. Iron, copper, wood, stone, clay, flax, help ... all affected the type of houses, the tools and instruments with which generation after generation of men and women gradually gave shape to the countryside, sowing the land, harvesting its fruits and transforming them into art and culture.