Orvieteo and italian pottery
 

I was recently in Orvieto and found pottery <BR>to purchase. I lost the website and fax <BR>number for the store. It was in the main <BR>piazza and if you are facing the Duomo it <BR>was to the left just before the street begins <BR>with shops on both sides. The store sells to <BR>shops on the West coast of the US. The pottery is fabulous. Does anyone know of this store and can tell me the name or any <BR>other information that will help? I have <BR>searched everywhere on the WWW. <BR>Thanks!

Kay, <BR> <BR>I found a site for a store in Seattle which sells Orvieto (and other) designs. Their web address is: http://www.latavola.com. Click on "contents" from the main menu, then select the Online Catalog. This may be the store on the West coast to which you refer. I couldn't find the store in Orvieto, either. <BR> <BR>P.S. I found this on Altavista using the search string "+Orvieto +ceramic"

Be forewarned that the latavola site has a price list but it is "under construction"--not much use!

I think I know the store. I was there 1 year ago this month, and did I purchase some lovely vases and bowls. Although I'm sorry to say I can't remember the name! <BR>

Holly, <BR>If you come across anything like a receipt or sack or it comes to you in <BR>the middle of the night, will you please <BR>get back in touch with you. I am so <BR>jealous that you were smart enough to <BR>purchase while you were there in Orvieto. Wish I had not decided to think about it. <BR>Kay

There is a store in North Beach neighborhood of San Fran which sells Italian pottery. Do you want the name of it instead? I don't think I can tell the name of the Orvieto shop from my photos.

Pam: <BR> <BR>Please send the name of the shop in <BR>San Francisco. The lady in the store in <BR>Orvieto said she sold to a shop in <BR>San Francisco. We took pictures of the <BR>pottery we liked but unfortunately the <BR>shop name was not in the photos. <BR>Thanks for your help. <BR>We have possibly recruited some newly <BR>graduated college friends to go to Orvieto in the next few weeks to help in <BR>the search. <BR> <BR>Kay

Kay - as it so happens I leave for Rome on Aug 3 and will be there for 10 days. If you can give me as much info as you have on this store, I will try to locate it for you while I am there and retrieve your lost information. I am staying with some members of the US embassy and they may know how to find it. <BR>Jennifer

There is a US store on the West Coast called Cottura that sells beautiful Italian pottery -- at prices of about 30% more than it cost when we were in Italy last year. They stock many of the same patterns we saw. I checked to see if they have a website, and they do (http://www.cottura.com), but it's only for ordering their lovely catalog. The site says the catalog is $5; when I called the 800# and simply requested one, however, there was no charge....

There is a store in New york that has very beautiful pottery, mostly from Deruta. Thier web-cite is "www.ceramica-italia.com". In their commentary, they state that there is no pottery industry in either Orvieto or Siena and that the pottery sold in those cities is mostly manufactured in Deruta or Montelupo, even if patterns native to Those other cities are utilized. Now I really don't know what to believe as I did see very nice pottery in Sienna and thought I was being told it was made there. I know I saw pottery being made in San Gemignano but it is not mentioned as a source of production by them. Perhaps the total output from Deruta and Montelupo is much larger and pottery from these other places is not made in sufficient quantity to be largely avaialable. Again, I really don't know what to believe.

Biordi Italian Imports <BR>415 392 8096 <BR>412 Columbus Ave, SF, CA 94133 <BR> <BR>also found these websites: <BR>www.dieci-soli.com <BR>www.latavola.com <BR>www.umbrars.com <BR>www.cybercucina.com <BR> <BR>We talked with a potter in Orvieto; I asked where his clay came from. He said Deruta. If the industry is centered there it is probably b/c that's where the clay deposits are. This man had a small studio but his work was not the traditional majolica. The ceramic pattern called Siena is black, white & 'siena' and the designs are after the floor of the Duomo.

<BR>I believe the name of the stor in s.f, on broadway, is called Miori.

<BR>I believe the name of the stor in s.f, on broadway, is called Miori.

just back from tuscany montespertoli a potter sold his goods to a store in san francisco his name is sandro gozzi does anyone know the store name or website.

<BR>The store in S.F. is Biordis-on Broadway-great Italian pottery-very pricey though.

<BR>place in s.f is Midori ceramics on broadway thx

We were in Deruta last year, and there is no question that it is the center of the ceramics industry. Store after store after store....the selection is overwhelming! We stopped into a few, and bought a number of items from the "Umberto Grazie" store/factory. Their ceramics had been featured in Gourmet, and they displayed others which they custom made for one of the tony NYC department stores (I forget which one, but the name was on the back). They cheerfully shipped it all home to us, and it came totally undamaged - lots and lots of packing material. <BR> <BR>Deruta is about 25 minutes south of Perugia (by car), just off of the A45 highway. There appeared to be one main street through the town (although we didn't explore that much). It was lots of fun, and the selection certainly made it worthwhile. It easily consumed the better part of half a day! <BR> <BR>There's a wonderful book on Deruta pottery, which you can get in the USA called "Deruta: A Tradition of Italian Ceramics" (just checked and found it on Amazon at 30% discount).

Deruta has an upper (older) and lower (modern) town. The large showrooms are along one main commercial street in the lower town. We thought that, with some exceptions, the more interesting shops were in the older upper part of town, which is also where there is a Ceramics Museum. It is incredibly daunting to arrive in Deruta and see shop after shop after shop. However in some the quality is quite poor. I would go directly to the upper town. Grazie is the shop everyone knows about but I think the upper town shops were better. We too ordered from a shop and had it shipped home and it all arrived in good shape, with no breakage.