The Cama history: Saint Valentine of 2011

The Chameleon, in Italian "Cama-leonte":
times of change for Cama, finding new
and safe waters in the stream of events.

At Cama, we celebrate Saint Valentine with the promise of coming back in production for the year 2012!

This interruption is important to us in order to adjust to our new business model.
I personally love Cama and Cama products.
I will do all the efforts necessary to bring the art back to all the Cama loyal customers.

A special thank you to the Friends of Cama for their support.

Happy Saint Valentine to all the people in love with art!

Roberta Niccacci

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In the Renaissance, the chameleon was the symbol of air. The Universe for the Renaissance scholars was the summary of the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. Each element had a specific symbol.

In the past century, a successful company established in Perugia and producing Deruta ceramics took inspiration exactly from these Renaissance symbols. They selected the "Salamandra" (tr. salamander) which is the symbol of fire.  Wasn't the "Cama-leonte"  part of the destiny of Cama in the writing of the word itself? Cama is very lucky!

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We will turn business into a choral experience of love and respect for the Cama artists and for their art!

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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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The Cama Deruta scrolling: a detail turned into an art

Traditional patterns: Details make the difference 

Originally the scrolling on the Renaissance patterns from Deruta was a means to conceal the defects of the painting.

In the original patterns in museums the scrollings ("riccetti" in Italian) were very few.

At Cama these negligible details have been turned into an art, giving  the patterns an extreme consistency and keeping them adherent to the surface of the glaze.

Patterns are like a handwriting  and at Cama this writing is very refined and comparable to a handwriting in the italic style at its best.

Indeed italic was one of the predominant handwriting styles of the Italian Renaissance. This is the reason why the Cama patterns are considered as calligraphic where calligraphy is the art of beautiful handwriting.

One of the latest discoveries is that the writing by hand in italic, with the letters linked one to another, reproduces the flow of the thinking and it is an opportunity for artistic self-expression.

This is the comparison that explains at the best what we may read through the lines of  the traditional Cama patterns and make them so exclusive because of their consistency.

Source credit: La Stampa, Beautiful writing makes you smart, Time Magazine, Reforming with zigs zags.

Giuliano de' Medici and the Singing Rooster

Coat of Arms of the Medici
Family, Florence 

We may read the name of Giuliano de' Medici in the world of ceramics regarding the singing rooster.

The story of the singing rooster waking Giuliano up and helping him escape from being murdered is probably a true story.

Giuliano de' Medici was saved by the crowing of the rooster and soon afterwards he threw a party to celebrate the avoided danger, where he had pitchers made in the shape of roosters filled with local Tuscan red wine. Starting from that time,  roosters have become  a symbol for good luck.

As a matter of fact Giuliano de' Medici was the brother of the famous Lorenzo de' Medici and he was only sixteen when their father Piero died.

Indeed the two brothers took the power of the city of Florence right after their father' s death and opponent parties tried to kill them several times.

History says that in 1478  the "Pazzi" family conspired against Giuliano and Lorenzo in the repeated attempts to eradicate their power. In this occasion Giuliano was murdered and his brother Lorenzo was only wounded. Giuliano was only 25 years old when he died.

Giuliano de' Medici was awaken by a rooster
and for one time could escape murder.

The reaction of the city of Florence was unexpected  to the conspirators. The population of Florence was furious and attacked the members of the Pazzi family as well as their accomplices with heavy consequences.

With the death of Giuliano de' Medici the Renaissance world
of arts lost one of his most passionate and youngest partons.

Deruta ceramics history: The "Fuseruola"

Ancient beads
photo credit: "Ars Umbra"
Cultural Association in Deruta, Italy. 

The so-called "Fuseruola" is a spindle weight, basically a round-shaped ceramics bead (3/4 of an inch wide), that was part of the trousseau of the brides to be in the 16th century in Deruta.  It was considered as a token of love. The original set was composed of the spindle, the spindle weight, and the distaff.

The "Fuseruola" (bead) was technically necessary to balance the spindle. These round spheres were glazed and hand-painted with Renaissance geometric patterns

a key fob with a ceramics
bead, a "Fusolina".

enriched with classical writings in Latin such as "Ars et Amor" (Art and Love), "Omnia Vincit Amor" (tr. Love wins over everything).

Nowadays these ceramics have been brought back to life by their usage in

jewelry for i.e. necklaces, bracelets, pendants, and fobs. In earlier times they were also used for decorating runners and at the end of curtains to keep them straight.

At the Ceramics Museum of Deruta, it is possible to admire an interesting large collection of "Fuseruole" from the 16th century. 

I like to call these beads "Fusoline" ("Fusolina" is the singular), the word comes from "Fuso" that in English means "spindle". It sounds so sweet to my ear.

From the point of view of the love expressions written on the beads, they are almost what they call "Giaculatoria" (tr. short prayer) whose etymology is "Dardo" (tr. dart, arrow), therefore a message that arrives fast to the heart of the receiver, similar to nowadays "SMS"?

(to be continued...follow me on Facebook for updates at the Friends of Cama Page or subscribe to this blog upon your next visit)

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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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A motto for life: Festina Lente

Photo credit: Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Detail of
the Portrait of Cosimo de' Medici by Giorgio Vasari
1559-1560. 

"Festina Lente" is an expression in Latin that we find widely in Palazzo Vecchio as a writing or under the shape of  a turtle.

The motto was selected by  Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence as his emblem along with the Capricorn.

It is better known as "impresum" (tr. symbol or image) according to the Renaissance tradition of selecting a maxim that was meaningful of the intentions of the princely personality.

The literal translation of "Festina Lente" is "make haste slowly" and the complete representation is a turtle with an inflated sail.

Let's behave with food: Pope Urbano IV

Heraldic achievement of Urbano IV
with  fleurs-de-lis and rosettes.
Credit: Araldica Vaticana

Deruta is famous because one of the Italian Popes, Urbano IV, died in the city in 1264, exactly on October 2nd.
He was escaping from the town of Orvieto and riding towards Perugia. The story narrates that he died because of a food indigestion.

He found hospitality in the convent of the "Suore del Preziosissimo Sangue" (Sisters of the precious Blood of Christ) downtown Deruta, where he died.

Nowadays the convent is no longer active and the building has been restored and transformed into the Ceramics Museum of Deruta and still part of the Saint Francis Church Romanesque cloister.

The Museum has kept the same flavor of the Convent, where the nuns had opened a kindergarten for the children of Deruta and sorroundings.

 If we go to the ex-convent as adults we feel we can still smell the aroma of the wonderful pasta with red sauce by Sister Domenica, who was in charge of the kitchen. The pasta was especially "al dente" like in the best restaurants!

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By looking at the crest I would like to think that the stylized red flowers are blooming Ruta flowers! They look just like the flowers of the Ricco Deruta pattern. On the contrary I must confirm that they are probably rosettes, because of the fleur-de-lis combination, which is mentioned together with  roses in Biblical books.