We originally 'met' Oscar through his craftsmanship, as we traveled through Andalucia and especially in the Province of Granada. One of our first 'loves' in Spain was the intricate marquetry or taracea products, outstanding pieces of art different from anything we had seen before in North America. We had also noticed quite a variety in the quality of taracea pieces for sale and the finest examples of this traditional art led us to Oscar in his sprawling, multi-roomed studio in Granada.

Artesania Beas was founded in 1948 by the master craftsman Antonio Beas Bimbela, who was himself born into a family of taracea craftsmen. Thanks to Antonio's monumental efforts and his dedication to his tradition, this ancient craft has not only kept its traditional roots, with the craftsmen fabricating all their own materials at every stage of production, but has also flourished.

Antonio's son, Tomás, has himself continued with this tradition as testified by the many stunning works of art attributed to his surpassing skills. There had been some concern about the lasting nature of this lineage until Tomás' nephew, Oscar, began his own apprenticeship at the very young age of seven. We were honoured to meet with both Tomás and Oscar (now in his late twenties) in our visit to their studio. We have become good friends. Oscar is a young man with a vision and the leadership to keep their studio thriving in this modern age, keeping the tradition strong as well as adapting to new realities.

We viewed many exquisitely beautiful works of art, created as a result of many, many long hours of work and dedication. Above all, these objects display the patience, attention to detail and creativity that are the hallmarks of all true craftspeople. The highlight of our tour was the secretary's cabinet or bargueño (bar-gwain-yoh) which took Oscar and Tomás 10 months to complete. We fell in love with these beautiful works of art and found it was difficult to choose among so many to include in our Collection.

We are very proud to bring Tomás' and Oscar's art to North America, actually we are thrilled. Our Collection offers a unique selection of boxes, games, mirrors, trays and furniture, complete with a Certificate of Guarantee from Artesania Beas that each piece has been made in its entirety by the hand of a Master Craftsman. Learn more history and more about the process.