Portuguese Makers: Chocalhos Pardalinho -- the last remaining handmade cowbell maker in Alcáçovas

The hands of a Cowbell Master will forever be heard in the fields…

It’s not every day that one can own an item that’s been listed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (In Need Of Urgent Safeguarding). The Portuguese cowbell is one such item. Millenary fire artists (blacksmiths and coppersmiths) in the Alentejo have been producing cowbells with a singular sound and a main purpose, to help locate animals scattered across pastures, for at least 600 years.

Located in the village of Alcáçovas, one of the most important shepherding areas of the country, third-generation Cowbell Masters Guilherme Maia and Francisco Cardoso and their four workers operate the last remaining handmade cowbell factory in Portugal’s cowbell capital, Chocalhos Pardalinho, founded in 1913.

It’s a time-consuming, technically complex craft that takes several years to master all the artisanal parts to manufacture these pieces. Each cowbell is the result of highly skilled handiwork. The cowbells are made from iron, which is coldhammered and folded on an anvil until it is cup-shaped. Small pieces of copper or tin are set around the iron and then it’s enveloped in a mixture of clay and straw. The piece is fired at 1300 degrees C for about 45 minutes, removed from the kiln and rolled on the ground to evenly spread the metal then plunged into cold water for rapid cooling. Once cool, the clay cast is broken open, the bell is polished, and the tone of the bell, using either a metal or wood clapper, is fine-tuned to not only sound pleasant but to be heard at a distance.

In the past, shepherds used bells of different sizes, according to the season. The greediest cow would use the “male bell” (chocalho macho – bigger with more bass sound) so that the shepherd would know when the animal went to eat the neighbor’s grass. Today’s cowbells aren’t just for cows. Chocalhos Pardalinho makes many shapes and sizes for horses, goats, sheep, ferrets (!!), chickens, and even dogs. They also offer a decorative line, just as musically tuned as the animal versions, and are beautiful on the wall, in the garden, or at your front door.

Chocalhos Pardalinho welcomes visitors for factory tours as well as workshops of 10-15 participants. They ship worldwide and you can purchase these fine works of history and tradition at their factory, by phone, via their Facebook Page, and coming soon, on their website.