about

Orla was born from a shared passion between a father and a son.

Since 2018, David Bastos has been learning and working alongside his father Rogério, a ceramicist with decades of experience, in their studio in Reixida, Leiria. What began as an apprenticeship became a collaboration — two generations shaping clay together, each piece carrying the knowledge and intuition of both.

The name Orla means brim — a liminal place where different things meet. Our work lives at the intersection of tradition and experimentation, function and art, intention and improvisation.

Every piece at Orla is handmade. We value limited editions, unique objects and non-repetition — once an edition is complete, it is never reproduced. Our decorative work embraces improvisation, meaning no two surfaces are ever exactly alike. Our engobes and glazes are developed and produced in our own studio, giving us full control over colour, texture and finish from raw material to finished piece.

We believe in objects that carry a story — made slowly, made with purpose, made to last.

— David & Rogério Bastos, Reixida, Leiria, Portugal