Our "DNA"

In Madeira, in the 19th century, it is essential to highlight the importance of the English influence on the island, present in several domains, many of which extend indelibly to this day.

It is from the second half of the nineteenth century, on the initiative of the English citizen, Miss Elizabeth Phelps, resident in Madeira, that Madeiran embroidery began to be recognized as a commodity of the island's foreign exchange system and entered the family economy of many Madeirans.

From then on, embroidery, considered a homemade product, took on the dimension of a mercantile product.

With the new dynamics that the business acquired, houses and exporters specialized in the Madeira embroidery trade appeared, which led to a radical change in the productive sector and it was in this context that the building at Rua João de Deus, L4-A, where the UNIVERSAL STORE, Lda. store is located, and which belonged to an embroidery industrialist of English and Anglican origin who ordered the construction of the building with religious functional adaptation as a contribution to Protestant doctrine.

With the unfolding of the Second World War (1939-1945), the embroidery industry in the Region entered a recession, with a great impact on the industrialists of the time. Bank bills were written on the building as a result of a bank loan to finance part of the work, so with the first failure, the bills were protested and the building was taken to public auction to settle the debt.

It was later acquired by the businessman Mr Frederico Rodrigues, owner of the public transport, farm and hotel of Camacha, who registers it in the name of his son, Dr. Alfredo Maria Rodrigues, who was a resident of Rua da Rochinha, in Santa Maria Maior, Funchal. There being no descendants, it was inherited by the wife's nephews.

Around the 60s, the building was leased by businessman João de Sousa, for commercial exploitation. At that time, the access to the basement was built and the covering of the walls and support pegs was completed. João de Sousa carried out several improvement works such as the coating of doors, windows, floors in wooden blocks, as well as the painting of the walls and pegs. His son João Freitas Gomes de Sousa acquired the property, which after his death in December 2023, remains in the possession of his heirs.

From the walls and pegs, the artistic work stands out, alluding to the old Madeiran customs, carried out by the hand of the self-taught painter António Gouveia (1910 -1992), influenced by Max Romer - a German painter who was the protagonist, almost exclusively, of artistic creation at that time, and who developed an intense activity in the field of painting customs and landscape of the Region. António Gouveia was his disciple and later colleague in the "restoration" of religious panels in several churches on the island.

It should be noted that this place is a reference for the first Madeiran musical ensemble - "Conjunto Académico João Paulo", whose vocalist was Sérgio Borges (1943 - 2017), Madeiran singer, winner of the 1970 RTP Song Festival and Bordalo Prize (1966), in Light Music, who belonged to this band and who in the 60s took the name of the island of Madeira and Portugal across borders, making history in Portuguese music. This place was where the outstanding Ensemble began to rehearse.

The then-called SALÃO DE VENDAS or sometimes BAZAR UNIVERSAL STORE, a store that applied for the "Shops with History" initiative promoted by the Municipality of Funchal (CMF), began its commercial activity in 1972, promoting the sale of a wide range of handmade embroidery, various regional items and other handicrafts, as well as the best old wines of the region, where all visitors could take their tasting. At the time, it also advertised that any order for products sold would be immediately shipped anywhere in the world, and that remains the prerogative to this day.

Its long commercial activity (57 years) resulted in a large stock of products, diverse and distinctive, which currently includes a whole series of Madeira embroideries and tapestries, Portuguese regional articles, fortified or liqueur wines - Madeira wines and Port wines - and also table wines, highlighting the important collection of old Madeira wines, very old, whose size and diversity is unique in the Region and in the country. The shop is sought after by collectors and other interested parties looking to acquire old dated fortified wines. It is a reference in the area, receiving people addressed by the Madeira Wine Institute itself (now IVBAM) or by the Madeira Wine Company to buy Madeira wines or other fortified wines of certain dates. it also includes a large number of spirits from the old sugar cane mills - Hinton, Machico and others.

Another distinctive element of the store, although currently without the relevance of yesteryear, is the Madeira embroidery collection - internationally recognized Madeiran art, whose pieces have a long history and tradition linked to the luxury segment. This collection includes towels of varying sizes and shapes, doilies - the so-called placemats, sheets, bedspreads, evening dresses, blouses, skirts, blouses and children's dresses, etc., representative of the Madeira embroidery industry, namely the embroidery factories "Bordados Cruzeiro do Sul", "Abreu & Araújo, "Gês Bordados", "lvo da Silva", "Maria Nunes", etc..

In this collection, some delicate pieces coexist, highly praised for their complexity and artistic perfection, and others less relevant, but still distinctive of this art. Also without the relevance of other times, wicker is still distinguished. These vine works are striking from Madeiran art and specifically from the village of Camacha, which included bars with benches, rocking chairs, bookshelves, baskets for various uses - baskets of fruit, napkins, cutlery, bread, etc., as well as various lampshades. It is also worth mentioning the wicker work of Curral das Freiras, which in turn included baskets also of some size - baskets for transporting land, for harvesting, transporting fruit, etc.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the volume of hand-painted crockery from various Portuguese regions - Viana do Castelo, Bordalo, Ânfora, Outeiro de Águeda, Pereiras, Vista Alegre, Porcel, Real Cerâmica de Coimbra, A. Estrela Santos, Sacavém, Spodart, Meirinhas.