The way we fill each little hole with animal hair is very much the same. My father and I are more sensitive to the beauty of the pieces, working with noble woods. Some collections now include our in-house wax, a recipe each generation has perfected for the best maintenance of our brushes.

The hand filling technique. This is the 93-year-old legacy my great grandfather left us. All our brushes, whether for shining shoes, combing hair, cleaning kitchen pots or even scrubbing kitchens, undergo the same rigorous procedure to ensure their utmost quality and durability.

A clothes brush. I realised then how much time it takes to create a brush by hand if you want it to be beautiful as well as functional. It can take up to 72 hours to create one brush from the shaping and finishing of the wood to the hand filling process.

Definitely. There used to be six or seven handmade brush companies in Porto but they all closed. Now we are the only ones remaining in Portugal and we are determined to keep our art alive. We will be organising workshops later this year to share and create more interest in our craft.