Inside the last remaining workshop making Portuguese cowbells by hand — a UNESCO-recognized tradition 'in need of urgent safeguarding'

• Chocalhos Pardalinho is the only workshop in Portugal that still crafts cowbells using traditional techniques.
• Co-owners Guilherme Maia and Francisco Cardoso are fighting to keep the craft from disappearing altogether.
• The bells are a mixture of iron and brass that are hand-shaped and fired in a furnace at 1,300 degrees Celsius. The process may look easy, but it takes a lot of effort to do correctly.
• UNESCO declared the art of handmade cowbells an intangible cultural heritage that is in need of urgent safeguarding in 2015.

The signature handmade cowbells of Alcáçovas, Portugal, have been used by local farmers for centuries.

Chocalhos Pardalinho is the only workshop in the country that still crafts them using traditional techniques.

In 2015, UNESCO declared this process an intangible cultural heritage that is in need of urgent safeguarding. Following that recognition, tourists became more interested and started to buy them as decor pieces and souvenirs.

"The people who do it are the six of us in our factory. No one else does," co-owner Guilherme Maia told Business Insider Today. "This art can really die."

Maia learned to make the bells from his father, who learned from an uncle. As demand grew, he convinced his friend Francisco Cardoso, a former shepherd, to learn the craft as well and become his business partner.

Making handicrafts "was love at first sight," Cardoso said.

To make a bell, an artisan shapes a sheet of iron with a hammer and anvil. Other pieces like the handle are welded to the body.

Then, to get the distinctive yellow color and the perfect sound, the artisans add a piece of brass, and wrap it all up in a mixture of clay and hay to form a shell.

"If we use clay alone, the clay may crack while drying and the brass can slip through the cracks," Cardoso said.

The clay-wrapped bells air-dry outside before going into the furnace. They spend approximately 45 minutes at 1,300 degrees Celsius until the metals melt and fuse together.

After firing, they need to be constantly rolled on the ground so that the melted brass can spread evenly as they cool. The final cooling stage happens in a cold water bath.

Once completely cool, the clay cocoons are cracked open and the bells are ready for tuning. The artisans listen to the quality of the sound and make adjustments to make sure they can be heard as far away as possible.

Cardoso told Business Insider that the workshop's output is dependent on an artisan's mood on any given day.

"It's a lot of effort," he said. "People sometimes come and say, 'Oh, this seems easy.' It's not quite that easy."

Farmers and shepherds are still Chocalhos Pardalinho's biggest customers, with clients across Portugal, Spain, France, and Angola.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Chocalhos Pardalinho was expecting to bring in 300,000 euros in revenue in 2020. However, after a few slow months, sales in August began to grow again.

But Maia is maintaining an optimistic outlook on 2021.

"We believe that this all will pass sooner or later and that we will have an excellent year," he said.