RuvidaMente
PIEDMONT
The palm of the epicenter of Piedmontese ceramic craftsmanship certainly belongs to the town of Castellamonte, in the Canavese area, where the tradition has been perpetuated since time immemorial. Here, for centuries, humble and indispensable objects such as bowls, plates, jars, pots and crockery have been incessantly produced; to the point that its inhabitants were called throughout Piedmont with the good-natured and ironic nickname of "pignater". This is a tradition that sees its beginnings in the darkness of the centuries and oral transmissions of memories, but it is certainly from the period of the ancient Salassi that there are real hints of the local ceramic activity; and there are numerous amphorae, pàtere, tear and oil lamps found in the area and dating back to the Roman period.
Although even today mainly domestic tableware is produced, among which the characteristic pot-bellied pots with small handles, of a beautiful light red color, stand out, today's notoriety is due to the large glazed ceramic stoves, excellent artifacts of ancient tradition that, from here, are exported all over the world.
The ancient ceramic productions are also perpetuated in the area of Mondovì, especially in Villanova and Chiusa Pesio, in the province of Cuneo, characterized above all by tableware and ornamental tableware, in particular statuettes of religious subjects and decorative tiles, to which have recently been added hand-painted plates depicting scenes of the countryside or animals.
In Vinovo, in the province of Turin, on the other hand, handmade bricks and terracotta architectural elements are produced, obtained from ancient wooden molds still in use, in an incredible number of shapes.
APULIA
Ceramics and terracotta are certainly the most widespread artisan sector in Apulia, favored, over the centuries, also by the wealth of red clay quarries. The most important production center is Grottaglie, in the province of Taranto, which has made it its main source of wealth for centuries. A real ceramics district has developed in the city, called "li camenn're" (from "chimneys"), with many shops still located in caves today. In the past, here were mainly produced objects of common use (tableware, containers for wine, water, components for construction in general). For some time now, traditional productions have been flanked by increasingly refined artifacts, the result of research that looks to the future without forgetting the past and that has made Grottaglie ceramics famous in the world. Until the last century, even in Laterza, also in the province of Taranto, a very fine production of majolica characterized by classic lines and intense colors on a white background was flourishing, which today is being tried to recover.
Other interesting centers dedicated to ceramic art are located in the province of
Foggia, (Serracapriola and in Torremaggiore), in the Bari area (in
Gravina in Puglia, Monopoli and Capurso, with a certain predilection for raw terracotta objects), and in the province of Lecce (in Cutrofiano,
Ruffano, Trepuzzi, and San
Pietro in Lama), where the characteristic oil lamps with the characteristic green glaze are still produced.
In addition to the classic, commonly used or decorative productions, among the characteristic objects of Apulian production are the splendid artistic nativity scenes, holy water fonts and dolls linked to the legend of the ius primae noctis.
Finally, among the most curious productions, the "whistles" deserve a mention, often made in anthropomorphic form (the carabiniere, the priest, the warrior, etc.) or of animals or flowers and fruits, always decorated with very bright colors. The centers where the production of whistles has become a real local institution are Rutigliano, in the province of Bari, and Ostuni, in the province of Brindisi, where these objects become the pretext for fun events and popular festivals.
CERAMICS AND TERRACOTTA IN
[Abruzzo•Basilicata] [Calabria•Campania] [Emilia•Latium•Liguria]
[Lombardy•Marches] [Piedmont•Apulia] [Sicily•Tuscany]
BACK TO
