Author: Tiziana Manzetti

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Buongiorno Ceramica!

The organizers of Buongiorno Ceramica have taken the festival of traditional Italian pottery online.

The festival will be free and broadcast on the Association’s Youtube channel from 16 to 17 May due to lockdown restrictions.

The AiCC, Italian Ceramic Cities Association, includes 46 cities with a “tradition in artistic pottery making”. The artisans of each city will contribute videos and pictures showing us the secret life of Italian craftsmanship. The material will form an ideal tour of our centers of excellence.

The workshops have just reopened after two months of lockdown. It is the best time ever to celebrate the creativity, talents, and inspiration of our craftsmen and artists!

Re-opening the workshops of Italian potters
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Italian ceramics from the British Museum

I went back to the British Museum just a few days before it closed due to the epidemics.

It was not as busy as it used to be before the virus changed the limits of personal space. This was not unpleasant, though.

I could take it slowly and enjoy my favorite pieces of Italian pottery, time-traveling back to the Renaissance.

The collection of Italian ceramics hosted by the British Museum is of the utmost importance: most of the pieces date back to the golden age of Italian majolica, the 16th and 17th century, and they come from different regions, offering a rare perspective on the differences in pictorial styles, shapes, and glazes.

I did not take pictures, but I’m copying below a blog post from 2015, with some highlights from the collection.

…. November 2015

A few pictures from my last visit to the British Museum, where a significant collection of Italian ceramics is hosted.

The display is quite unattractive and, in my opinion, not very well organized, but the quality of the pieces is really good and definitely worth a visit.

I took some pictures with my phone – not good quality, but enough to whet your appetite.

Two plates or bowls made in Deruta by Nicola di Pietro Francioli in 1515-1530 2015-10-28 16.19.11-1

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What are the most popular Italian dinnerware patterns?

What are the most popular Italian dinnerware patterns?

Ask the question to a hundred Italians, and you’ll get a hundred different answers. We have so many regional designs, all deservedly popular thanks to their beauty and their century-old heritage.

However, I do wish to try and answer this question without claiming that this is an exhaustive list of all the best Italian dinnerware patterns, of course. It’s just a brief guide to help you choose.

1 – Classic Italian dinnerware patterns

Three designs belong to this group, all from Deruta: Raffaellesco, Ricco Deruta and Arabesco.

Inspired by 15th and 17th-century Deruta pottery, their classic beauty makes them versatile dinnerware sets whose exquisite elegance and subtle refinement are never commonplace. Here is a short description.

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Handmade Italian Ceramics: how to spot a fake

Learn how to tell if the Italian pottery you are considering purchasing is authentic.

Raffaellesco is one of the most faked Italian pottery designsBefore you close the deal of your life and pay an incredibly low price for what looks like a stunning piece of Deruta pottery, you may want to take a few minutes and learn how to spot fake Italian ceramics.

Lots of nice looking ceramic pieces are machine stamped and sold as original handmade Italian ceramics. Possibly from reputable regions, like Deruta.

Spotting fake Italian ceramics is possible and quite easy. Follow these simple steps.

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Celebrating the 10th anniversary of thatsArte.com

A story of friendship, pottery, and good food
It all began on a perfect Summer day in the Umbrian countryside, with us, Manuela and Tiziana,  having a cup of coffee under a shady patio and chatting away about our latest discoveries in pottery.
Manuela’s husband was drowsing nearby, half-listening to our blah-blah. When we started complaining about missing our jobs and the kids getting older he said: “Why don’t you gals turn your passion for pottery into a business, showcasing the work of the artisans you love and reaching out to people who care about the value of Italian craftsmanship?” Yes, indeed. Why not?

Going to the heart and soul of Italian pottery
The best part? Travelling to meet the artisans, learn about their techniques, the local traditions and get to appreciate more and more the distinctive beauty of regional pottery: Caltagirone, Deruta, Mantova, Grottaglie…  Local delicacies were definitely part of the experience, together with lots of fun.

 

Wait! Aren’t we are missing a big chunk of Italian heritage crafts?
The more we traveled across the country, the more we felt that other Italian traditionally handmade products deserved to be brought to the attention of the world.
One day, driving through the Tuscan Appennini, we decided to stop for lunch in Scarperia, a stunning Medieval village, tiny and beautifully preserved, known for its traditional art of knife making. The place called for much more than a good “bistecca alla fiorentina”! We waited for the craftsmen to re-open their studios after the lunch break and experienced the transformation of steel and horn into beautiful kitchen knives. We decided on the spot to open our website to new crafts. After the knives of Scarperia, we picked the table linens of Pardi and, more recently, the pewter from Brescia.
Proud of a very special relationship …
The single thing we are most proud of, ten years down the line, is the special relationship we have established with the artisans and each of our Customers. We manage every project, order or inquiry personally, providing detailed information on our products, advice on bespoke projects, plans, sketches and what not…  We know this is the special bit about thatsArte.com, our Customers love it and we love it too, because it is exactly what we were hoping to achieve, ten years ago, when it all began…
Our plans for the future: more of the same and better
We’ll keep on designing wow backsplashes, answering your emails, talking our families into joining our scouting trips with the promise of great food and wine. There are so many amazing products out there, waiting for us to discover and bring them to your attention.  Bear with us, then!
Manuela and Tiziana

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Paola Grizi Art Ceramics

Paola Grizi clay sculptures explore the human soul through the visual imagery of a woman’s face. An ageless face, able to capture and return, enhanced, the deep meanings behind fundamental relations, such as mother and child, culture and individuals, men and nature.

Stories are an important topic in Paola’s art, as well. Book pages filled with minuscule characters become alive under the viewers’ eyes. A hand, a nose, her iconic face appear to shatter the mystery in the narration and question its truths or maybe add to them.
Or, as in one of her clay sculptures, pages make their way out of the head of the woman. Dreams, memories, thoughts that impose their own meaning to reality

Born in Rome, Paola’s started modeling as a young girl in the studio of her grandfather, a well know Italian painter and sculptor. She graduated in Literature, but soon after Uni she followed her passion for sculpture, gaining for herself an International reputation. Recently, she has begun casting her works in bronze.

Looking Ahead - 2016 - Private collection USA

Paola Grizi: Looking Ahead, 2016. Private collection USA Credits: Paola Grizi

Paola Grizi: The secret, 2014. China

Paola Grizi: The secret, 2014. Changchun Museum, China Credits: Paola Grizi

Paola Grizi: The revelation. Private collection Italy Credits: Paola Grizi

Paola Grizi: Thoughts, 2015. Changchun Museum, China Credits: Paola Grizi

Paola Grizi: In the wind, 2017. Credits: Paola Grizi

By Tiziana Manzetti

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Art Deco Pottery, the Taste of an Epoch

Faenza
Feb. 18th – Oct 1st 2017

The Art Deco style developed internationally between the 1920s and 1930s, dominating the architecture and the decorative arts.
It was an eclectic, rich and opulent style, glamorous but at the same time elegant and above all ‘modern’. No wonder then that Art Deco was particularly favored by the modern middle class and lent its esthetical features to new theatres, ocean liners, railway stations, cinema interiors and private houses.

Just like Art Nouveau and Futurism, Art Deco influenced Italian interior and industrial design, fashion design, the graphic arts and, last but not least, Italian pottery, impacting both shapes, materials and decoration. It placed the myth of the machine at its center, replacing symmetries with geometries, and finally making the way for the industrial production.

Francesco Nonni ceramic figurine - Italy

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Fausto Melotti – Trappolando

Until Feb. 27th, 2017
Milano, Italy

Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901 – Milano 1986) is one of the most renowned Italian ceramic artists of the 20th century. The Montrasio Gallery in Milan celebrates his work with an exhibition, showcasing 30 sculptures, bas-reliefs and ceramic pieces, some unknown to the public.

The exhibition title “Trappolando”, refers to the artist’s half-serious relationship with the medium, for him a continuous challenge that he was always happy to accept.

Melotti’s work is magic and full of poetic resonances, vital, varied and colourful. He collaborated with the most relevant designers of his time, Richard Ginori and Giò Ponti, never ceasing to experiment and wonder.
By Tiziana Manzetti

Fausto Melotti - Vase Peacock 1960 - Credits Artnet Continue reading →

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Tile floors that go down in history

Ceramic tiles have been used for centuries in the Mediterranean countries because they provided a durable floor surface and added color to both public and domestic settings.
Sometimes the tile floor bore the arms of the family who owned the residence or, having funded it, wanted to impress the future generations with their generosity.

Today, we draw inspiration from the elaborate designs of the past to create our own tile floors, using the same techniques that have made the history of these beautiful works of art.


 Credits Victoria and Albert Museum - From the tile floor of the Church of San Francesco in Forlì, Italy

Ghenos tile floors and panels

Credits: Espressioni della Maiolica, Salerno
by Tiziana Manzetti