The Chameleon, mascot of CAMA DERUTA, and The Salamander

The chameleon, symbol of air
in the Renaissance 

A MASCOT IS BORN - IT 'S A GIRL! 

If you are visiting Florence you cannot miss the tour of Palazzo Vecchio, home of Cosimo I de' Medici and his wife Eleonora di Toledo in the Piazza Della Signoria. 

Cosimo I de' Medici is the proud gentleman on the horse next to this wonderful palace, his palace, nowadays seat of the commune of Florence and Museum. 

A unique part of Palazzo Vecchio is the laboratory/curio collection (tr."Studiolo") of Francesco I, son of Cosimo and Eleonora, passionate about alchemy and patron of the arts. 

The ceiling of this room are painted and encrusted in wood, like the rest of the space from top to bottom. By lifting up your eyes you will see the whole world represented all around through its founding components: fire, water, earth and air and each of these elements are translated into symbols.

The symbols that attracted me in the "Studiolo" were two of them in particular: fire and air, for specific reasons related to the history of Deruta. 

Indeed the symbol of fire was the salamander, which in Greek mythology was considered as resistant to fire.

The symbol of air was the chameleon, changing his skin colors like the rainbow in the air and expression of adaptation and resilience. 

One reason is that "The Salamander" (tr. La Salamandra) was a famous factory in the history of ceramics in Italy. It was founded in 1921 in Rome and transferred to Perugia in 1923. The manufacturing closed in 1955. A gem in the history of ceramics. 

The "Salamandra" factory was very important to the Deruta tradition for the revolutionary products they created which set the trend in the ceramics market in the world.

If you wish to know more about this factory I recommend the following book, besides visiting the Ceramics Museum of Deruta, where you may admire several ceramics samples by La Salamandra. 

"La Salamandra: arte e industria della ceramica a Perugia 1923-1955" by Giulio Busti and Franco Cocchi, Volumnia, 2000 (ISBN 9788885330894).  

The Salamander, symbol of fire in the Renaissance.

On the other hand in Florence, I was looking for Renaissance elements that were linked to the workshop of my family, Cama, and chameleon ("CAMAleonte" in Italian) includes the word CAMA. The Chameleon can also very well express the resilience, patience and boldness of Cama in these recent years. 

To me the chameleon and the salamander are very beautiful, attractive, strong and...artistic animals, the best animals to represent ceramics arts & crafts! 

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In 1925 'La Salamandra'  ceramics factory made its headquarters in Perugia in the deconsecrated Church of "San Francesco delle Donne" (Saint Francis of the Ladies), one of the oldest Franciscan sites dating back to 1212  and continued its activity there until the 1950s.

In the Church of "San Francesco delle Donne", you will find nowadays the workshop of Giuditta Brozzetti, the oldest fabrics workshop in Europe, making traditional products by hand in wooden ancient looms. Visit: The Giuditta Brozzetti website.

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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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The Cama Deruta Blog celebrating 10,000 visits!

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Last night we reached 10,000 visits to our blog started January 2009. 

We are very happy and thankful to our readers. We thank you for your patience in waiting for Cama to resume her work and for enjoying keeping in touch. 

This pause is so important for the health of the workshop and of my family. In this story the only thing we are going to lose is the building of Cama in Deruta on Via Tiberina number 113, which is no longer a valid address. 

What seems to be a loss is going to be an energetic step backwards to run faster and be stronger. The whole story started with the fall of my mother, Elena Niccacci,  in July 2008 and her breaking her femor. 

This event changed my mother's life,  my life and the life of the Cama workshop. 

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Updates: In august 2012 we have reached 24,000 visits! 

Pre-Christian Art: The Peacock and the eternity of life

A ceramics plate with the so called
"peacock feather" pattern
made in Deruta, Italy.

The first Christians used symbols and representations with hidden meanings, because of the fact that it was forbidden to them to worship the images of Christ,  the Virgin Mary and everything that was related to them.

The peacock in pre-Christian art (2nd-4th century A.D.) was the symbol of resurrection, renewal and eternal life. These hidden meanings were inspired by the fact that the peacock loses his feathers in the fall and sees them grow again in the spring therefore replacing them annually.

Additionally -  as a cultural heritage  from ancient Rome mythology -the peacock is linked to the myth of Hera/Juno, the goddess of  sky and stars: the flesh of the peacock does not decay after death, the bird is immortal.

The entrance to the Vatican courtyards are guarded by two bronze peacocks (copies) like in the imagery of the entrance to the Paradise.

The peacocks in the Vatican courtyards.

The original bronze statues from the 2nd century A.D. are safeguarded in one of the aisles of the Vatican Museums. Herewith follows a detail of one of the original statues:

The original peacock from the 2nd century A.D.
(detail) 

The golden reflexions are given by the fact that visitors have been touching the bronze statues of the peacocks for hundred of years to receive good luck!

Bible bestiary: the deer and the Siena pattern

seen in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), still image of Sally Fields
drinking cappuccino. The cup and saucer was by Cama Deruta.

"Sicut cervus ad fontem" (Roman Latin which translates in English: the same way the deer goes to the fount...) is the beginning of the Psalm of the Bible that has inspired the artists who created the floor of the Cathedral of Siena.

The marble details with the deer are located especially near the altar of the church and when I was a little girl my father Renato Niccacci took me several times to the Cathedral of Siena  to admire this work of art.

Many years ago these marble details were made into a pattern in Deruta and my father was one of the first artists to reproduce it. His black backgrounds are difficult to copy as well as the brightness of the finish. The background is made of all single brush strokes that are hard to detect. His Siena pattern is like a velvet.

This pattern is very elegant and beautiful on the table. Black and white are the official colors of the city of Siena.

Renato Niccacci in the Cama Deruta
uniform at the Dolomites' tour.

One curiousity about the Siena pattern is that the deer was a little slimmer in the 1970s, it has gained some weight as my father did, just a little for his body.

Indeed I am very proud that my father likes sports. He is a bike rider and has been taking part to the tour of the Dolomites, the famous "Dolomiten Radrundfahrt" for 22 years. He has stopped going to the tour in the last three years but he is still exercising and looking forward to going again.

Bello il mio papà! Sweet, elegant and calm like the deer.

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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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