Italian Pottery
 

We were recently in Deruta Italy and bought some beautiful pottery. I own a piece of pottery from Gubbio, although I have never been there. Which other places in Italy are famous for their pottery and how would you compare it to the places I've mentioned, if you've been there?

hAVE BEEN TO dERUTA ALSO, LOVED IT. I KNOW THERE ARE A FEW PLACES DOWN NEAR NAPLES. WOULD BE CURIOUS WHAT OTHERS POSTERS MIGHT KNOW ABOUT.

hAVE BEEN TO dERUTA ALSO, LOVED IT. I KNOW THERE ARE A FEW PLACES DOWN NEAR NAPLES. WOULD BE CURIOUS WHAT OTHERS POSTERS MIGHT KNOW ABOUT.

I've been to the Amalfi coast, where they are well known for their colorful ceramics. You'll see LOTS of it throughout Amalfi, Positano, Ravello. If you want an idea of what it looks like, check out the following website - http://www.ceramicassunta.it/ <BR> <BR>I have no basis for comparison, since I'm not familiar with the pottery that you describe. Maybe others have seen or purchased both??? <BR>

In Sicily, San Stefano di Camastra and Caltagirone have gorgeous ceramics. Beware buying any at Fiumicino - a plate I purchased for L50,000 was over L300,000 at the airport!

Thanks Joanna for the tip. I've heard that airport prices on many things are more expensive. <BR>Elsa

Joanna - Thanks for the reply. The Deruta pieces I have are mainly geomtric, or have Renaissance portriats or dragon & curlicue design called Rafaelesco. The Gubbio piece has a stylized and elaborate bird in the midst of a swirling stylized floral motif. It had somewhat less varied colors than the Deruta work. What is the pottery like in the villages you mention. Is the pottery the same in each or does each specialize in a seperate design or motif. Thanks.

Several of us have posted here before that we especially liked the lemon motif of the Amalfi Coast. So representative of the area. I've never seen it available anywhere else, so looks like I'll just HAVE to go back!

The pottery I bought from SSdC was mainly white background with blue and yellow geometric patterns with a bearded zephyr in the centre. At Caltagirone the pottery all seemed to be huge, so I only looked.

I've been collecting Italian ceramica for ten years now from all over Italy. You will find that the designs of each region are unique to that area. I have purchased gorgeous pieces all along the Amalfi Coast, San Gimignano, Levanto in Liguria, all over Sicily, Orvieto in Umbria. If you can get to Faenza in the Emiglia-Romanza region, there is a wonderful abundance of ceramics, very complex designs, and a famous ceramics museum. Lovely town too. Half the fun is in the search. I leave most of the shipping to the shops, who are adept at it, but carry home some small items wrapped in clothing. We once carried home a pictue made of ceramic tiles from Ravello -- they dismantled the picture and packed the tiles in two cartons, which we hand-carried onto the plane. A framer at home then reassembled and mounted them for us. It's one of our favorite treasures. Good hunting!! <BR>

Barbara, have you had good luck with the manufacturers shipping? Have things arrived intact? I've heard stories of credit cards charged, but nothing received once the buyer has returned home.

Due south from Positano sits Vietri, a small town with several ceramic factories. Evidently, the town once teemed with factories; today, there are still a handful. We bought two complete sets of pottery and had them shipped back home. It took 5 or 6 months, but everything arrived. A couple of pieces were broken. The factory was notified and several replacements were sent, more than had been broken.

I was wondering if anyone has ever been to a little town up near Venice that is a pottery town, called Nove? I was there many years ago and bought several pieces, but have forgotten if that is the name of the town, it's on the bottom of the pottery? Does anyone know of it?

Dayle, <BR> <BR>Sorry to take so long to reply -- I haven't been online for awhile. I've been lucky so far, but have never had anything shipped from manufacturers, only shop owners. Any broken pieces have been replaced. <BR>

I too love the pottery of Italy and had a few comments. Peggy, in all the Italian pottery that I have, the word on the bottom is the town from which it came. I don't know Nove, but I would say that is your town. Dayle, I know that the lemon motiff is popular in the Amalfi Coast, but it is also in Tuscany/Umbria though likely in less quantity. And surprisingly, I just found a shop in Marin County, Calif (just north of San Fran.) that imports the lemon motiff from Amalfi. The prices were more, but not at all outragous. Of course, the trip to Italy is more fun. <BR>My pottery comes from cities and villages in Tuscay/Umbria. I did find that the designs keep changing as I traveled farther south. <BR>As for shipping, I think that it is a good idea. I didn't do that thinking that I could care for transporting it myself. This worked fine. I got it onto the plane. I wrapped my package of various sized bowls in an airplane blanket for further protection and put it in the overhead compartment. Somewhere over Iceland, this woman behind me who had already been driving our sector of the plane crazy with her demands (I really don't think that she had ever traveled before) must have decided that she needed a blanket. She saw the blanket wrapped around my pots and begun to tug and tug. Finally she got the bowls to come tumbling down. THEN, she picked up the bundle and THREW it back in the the compartment. This, is when I finally became aware of what was going on. My heart sank. Yes, the largest bowl had broken to smitherines. I have to admit, I cried. I wanted to kill that lady. She didn't even apoligize!! She just said that she wanted a blanket!! The other people sitting nearby were all angry at this horrible lady and they couldn't stop talking about how awful she was the rest of the trip - all within hearing range of the lady. Sorry for the long story. I guess my point is, you have to assume that someone will be stupid enough to 'put the blanket down' so leave the shipping to the shopkeeper.

Tiffany, do you have the name of the shop in Marin? I live in so. Calif., and may get there before I return to Italy. If your flight had been returning from Paris instead of Italy, I would have sworn that lady was my travel companion from hell.

Barbara, thanks for the reply. It's encouraging!

Someone previously mentioned Caltagirone in Sicily. I read that there are 120 shops there. the one person who mentioned this place said that all the pottery seemed huge. Has anyone else been there and what is the pottery like?