It is located in Praça Guilherme Stephens, city of Marinha Grande, district of Leiria, in the Central region of Portugal
The Bust of Guilherme Stephens by the sculptor Luís Fernandes (1859-1954) is a tribute paid by the glassmakers and other workers at the National Factory to the promoter of the Glass Industry and an entire social and cultural work with obvious importance for the city's history.
The Bust of Guilherme Stephens was inaugurated on August 24, 1941 and is located in front of the Marinha Grande City Hall.
The Monument to Guilherme Stephens, located in front of the Factory he founded in 1769, created by the Leiriense sculptor Luís Fernandes, inaugurated on August 24, 1941.
The Bust consists of a bronze bust of Stephens that is supported by a pedestal with a dedication on one side, “To Guilherme Stephens – o Pessoal da Fábrica de Vidro 1941”.
The Project was built on the initiative of director Doutor Acácio de Calazans Duarte and was fully paid for by all employees and workers.
The authorities, factory staff, and a delegation of glass workers from all factories were present at the inauguration. The monument was handed over to the Marinha Grande City Council for its conservation and preservation and is located in front of the City Hall, in Praça Guilherme Stephens.
Guilherme Stephens (1731-1803) was a Portuguese industrialist and at the beginning of 1769 he acquired his first factory, a glass factory located in Marinha Grande that opened on July 7 of that year and its strong activity soon began to be felt, increasing its facilities, employing more workers and equipping it with the most advanced machinery of the time.
The Marquês de Pombal, recognizing his value, protected him as an excellent assistant in the country's large industrial regeneration company, being able to make partial payments in lime for public works from the kilns he still owned in Alcântara.
D. José I gave him permission to use the firewood from Pinhal de Leiria, which he needed for the factory, for fifteen years, a privilege that later became permanent, according to the permit dated 7-VII-1769.
Stephens ordered masters specialized in the glass industry to come from England, hired five Genoese specialists and hired a large number of workers, whom he ordered to teach this art and built spacious workshops in the Pombaline style, transforming what had been John Beare's small factory into one of the first glass factories in Europe of his time, not forgetting the culture and entertainment for his workers, who had access to primary education, drawing and music lessons.
It was due to his initiative that other industrialists of Portuguese nationality also rushed to establish other factories in Marinha Grande which, from being a small town, became one of the most important cities in the district of Leiria.
Guilherme Stephens was assisted by his brother João Diogo Stephens, who succeeded him in managing the factory and who in 1826 gave it to the State for the benefit of Marinha Grande and the Kingdom in general.
Praça Guilherme Stephens is distinguished by its pleasant group of 18th-century Pombaline buildings, including the Paços do Concelho (former dependency of the nearby Fábrica Irmãos Stephans), a garden surrounded by a museum, the original glass factory and the old administration.
In the center of the Square is the bust of Guilherme Stephens and at one end is the Municipal Market, formerly a resin factory (1859). The streets that converge at this Square are the most commercial in the city and reserved for pedestrians.
The Bust of Guilherme Stephens was inaugurated on August 24, 1941 and is located in front of the Marinha Grande City Hall.
The Monument to Guilherme Stephens, located in front of the Factory he founded in 1769, created by the Leiriense sculptor Luís Fernandes, inaugurated on August 24, 1941.
The Bust consists of a bronze bust of Stephens that is supported by a pedestal with a dedication on one side, “To Guilherme Stephens – o Pessoal da Fábrica de Vidro 1941”.
The Project was built on the initiative of director Doutor Acácio de Calazans Duarte and was fully paid for by all employees and workers.
The authorities, factory staff, and a delegation of glass workers from all factories were present at the inauguration. The monument was handed over to the Marinha Grande City Council for its conservation and preservation and is located in front of the City Hall, in Praça Guilherme Stephens.
Guilherme Stephens (1731-1803) was a Portuguese industrialist and at the beginning of 1769 he acquired his first factory, a glass factory located in Marinha Grande that opened on July 7 of that year and its strong activity soon began to be felt, increasing its facilities, employing more workers and equipping it with the most advanced machinery of the time.
The Marquês de Pombal, recognizing his value, protected him as an excellent assistant in the country's large industrial regeneration company, being able to make partial payments in lime for public works from the kilns he still owned in Alcântara.
D. José I gave him permission to use the firewood from Pinhal de Leiria, which he needed for the factory, for fifteen years, a privilege that later became permanent, according to the permit dated 7-VII-1769.
Stephens ordered masters specialized in the glass industry to come from England, hired five Genoese specialists and hired a large number of workers, whom he ordered to teach this art and built spacious workshops in the Pombaline style, transforming what had been John Beare's small factory into one of the first glass factories in Europe of his time, not forgetting the culture and entertainment for his workers, who had access to primary education, drawing and music lessons.
It was due to his initiative that other industrialists of Portuguese nationality also rushed to establish other factories in Marinha Grande which, from being a small town, became one of the most important cities in the district of Leiria.
Guilherme Stephens was assisted by his brother João Diogo Stephens, who succeeded him in managing the factory and who in 1826 gave it to the State for the benefit of Marinha Grande and the Kingdom in general.
Praça Guilherme Stephens is distinguished by its pleasant group of 18th-century Pombaline buildings, including the Paços do Concelho (former dependency of the nearby Fábrica Irmãos Stephans), a garden surrounded by a museum, the original glass factory and the old administration.
In the center of the Square is the bust of Guilherme Stephens and at one end is the Municipal Market, formerly a resin factory (1859). The streets that converge at this Square are the most commercial in the city and reserved for pedestrians.
