Majolica of Siena, Italy

Tourist shops in Italy request the name of their city as
a signature.  Otherwise they do not buy from your workshop.

 Siena is a wonderful example of Italian Art. The Cathedral of Siena is a beautiful art container starting from its famous black and white marble floor to the "Piccolomini Library". The Cathedral marble floor has inspired the "Siena" pattern with the sitting deer. 

Example of original Siena artwork on wood
(by  Ambrogio Lorenzetti,  1290-1348)
called "Trittico di Badia a Rofeno" and recently restored. 

Siena is also among the tourist cities in Italy where you can find Deruta ceramics signed "Siena, Italy". In fact the Siena pattern articles in particular come from Deruta, at least most of the production until the 1990s, because in the meantime a few artisans in Siena have opened their own ceramics shops. They specialize in the Siena contrades in particular and they might produce some of the Siena pattern, known there as "Black and white" pattern. The rest of the ceramics in their shops comes from Deruta and from Montelupo Fiorentino, the historical ceramics town of Florence. Montelupo Fiorentino has its own specific style and flavor. Very different from Deruta.

Indeed Siena does not have a ceramics tradition, historically they are famous for their wonderful paintings on wood with gold leaf backgrounds dating back to the Middle Ages. I also remember that there were workshops  in Siena selling reproductions of their art on wood.

Quality ceramics are like a signature. You may recognize them
from the shapes and the style of the patterns. 

A few days ago an American lady, possibly a reader of this blog, wrote to me about a piece that she purchased in Siena in 1993 on her honeymoon. She was asking information about who made her lovers'
cup. She wrote that she loved it! This was so easy for me to answer, because this cup, that a couple could drink from at the same time, was made at my family's workshop, Cama!

The two spouts are handmade straws. The couple can drink
from the cup at the same time. My aunt Antonia was
specialized in attaching handles, spouts and finishing.
She is now retired. On this piece she did the spouts and the
sponging. 

This lovers' cup was handthrown on the wheel by my uncle Luigi in two separate pieces: the cup itself and the stand.

The process of handthrowing is very long. The piece has to dry and afterwards it is trimmed with a special tool, when it is hard enough it can be sponged. The spouts are attached after the trimming. Each piece is tested before the first firing to check if the straws are working. The painting comes as a second step.

This is why it is possible to separate the two steps of the production.

The reason why new ceramicists open their own workshop in tourist cities in Italy is because in the 1990s in Deruta several artisans started a production of raw buisqueware that they distributed outside of Deruta.
This action has contributed to the decline of the tradition of Deruta, in terms of specific denotation of the place of origin. In some ways an example of globalisation.

Why shapes are important? Because for instance Deruta is famous for its round shapes handthrown on the wheel. Shapes from Deruta were originally different from the shapes of Nove, Montelupo Fiorentino, Castelli, Vietri, Santo Stefano di Camastra, some of the ceramics towns in Italy. The clay itself was different.

Likewise I would like to point out that the Amalfi Coast does not have a ceramics tradition in terms of "majolica" in the style of Deruta, the ceramics you find in Ravello are from Deruta, unless they come from Vietri (Salerno Province), whose style is completely different. This is why Ravello is not listed among the ceramics towns in Italy.