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The Alicante municipal arts centre hosted the exhibition on The splendour of Spanish pottery: the Francisco Godia collection from 26th October to 27th November 2004. This informative event publicised the abertis foundation's activities in the Valencia region and strengthened our links with the regional and local authorities.

The exhibition covered different periods from the 13th century to the 19th, to become a living testimony to the history of Spain's towns and villages and the people who lived in them. All the centres of production on the Iberian peninsula were represented: Muel, Teruel and Villafeliche, Puente del Arzobispo, Talavera de la Reina and Toledo, Barcelona, Alcora, Manises, Paterna and Valencia.

Spanish pottery shows the country's cultural diversity and gives an idea of the different influences involved. Thus, plant, heraldic, animal, figure, portrait and landscape motifs appear in an exhibition which ranges from Muslim influences – later reinterpreted by the Moriscos in Paterna and Manises during the period of the Reconquest – to the mastery of the Flemish, Italian and French artists or the products of 18th century factories. All these motifs are brought together in the catalogue published by the foundation, which also includes explanations by the exhibition commissioner, Maria Antonia Casanovas, and other experts.

Outstanding among the pieces displayed in the exhibition are a bust of the tenth count of Aranda, a minister under Carlos III and founder of the Alcora factory, and a series of lusterware plates which have been highly prized by collectors since the 15th century.