Deruta history: The Grazia factory in Deruta

Class and prestige at the Grazia
factory in Deruta. 

My dream home for ceramics in Deruta is the Grazia factory. I love their building and their ceramics style. I wish they liked the idea of hosting Cama. I would make them part of the wonderful world of the Friends of Cama!

The Grazia factory is the oldest workshop in Deruta that made it from the 1500s. Indeed the Grazia factory is listed among the most ancient family run operations worldwide. 

In 2009 Electa Editor published the book "Museo della fabbrica di maioliche Grazia di Deruta" (tr. Museum of the Grazia ceramics factory in Deruta" ISBN-13: 978-8837063450), where the authors write for the first time about the date of birth of the workshop: 1527 A.D. Marco di Paolo Grazia was the name of the founder. He started the art of his family by renting a furnace in the borough of Deruta with the following description "ad artem vasorum fictilium" (English translation "The art of earthenware vessels").   

I would be grateful to the Grazia factory for dedicating part of their factory to my mother as the "heir of Grazia", what she is known for when in the 1980s the Grazia factory opened their laboratories to contemporary artists creating modern designs, while my mother Elena Niccacci was energetically restyling the traditional Deruta patterns for Cama. 

To me the work of my mother and the style of Grazia have the same "transferware" look, funny enough nowadays an appreciation to a handpainted ceramics piece that is very well done is that it looks like "decal".

A full of grace expression from
a Renaissance lovers' cup. 

Indeed a ceramics piece from Deruta can reach the perfection and can be flawless. The process to reach such a high challenge is much longer and takes more care and attention than any other process. This is one of the reasons for the higher prices of the ceramics pieces.

The work of my mother Elena Niccacci and her team goes beyond the perfect look. Her work is graceful and an expression of love and passion. Graceful literally translates in Italian "Pieno di GRAZIA".

If you google "grazia factory Deruta" the photo of the hands of my mother come up and lots of photos from my blog. This might be a sign of the destiny!

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Latest news as of September 18th, 2011 - Victim of the recession in Deruta, Italy is this time the famous Grazia factory. In the paper these days, the factory has sent their 18 employees home for two months for lack of orders. The Italian government will be supporting the artists according to the temporary redundancy program. 

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- Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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The 15th Station of the Cross: Resurrection

Elena Niccacci receiving Pope John Paul II's blessing
at the year 2000 Jubilee celebrations.

Until recent times the Stations of the Cross in a Catholic church were a total of 14. You may check that in any Italian church upon your visits to our beautiful country.

It was Pope John Paul II who added the 15th Station of the Cross during his papacy (1978-2005). He decided that the 15th station of the cross was Jesus Christ's Resurrection.

Regarding Pope Paul II my memory goes back to the year 2000 when my mother Elena Niccacci received the Pope's blessing along with my family and the Cama artists.

Modern ceramic stations of the cross 

by artist and friend Professor

Claudio Monotti. 

My brother Andrea Niccacci deliverying the Cama plate to Pope
John Paul II in the year 2000. 

For this occasion my mother painted a large plate in the Cama traditional patterns that she offered to the Pope. On the back of the plate all the workers' and our family members' names.    

Cama's last visit to the Vatican with the workers had been upon the Sistine Chapel's restoration in 1994. In that year we rented a bus and visited the Vatican Museums with all the Cama assistants to introduce them to Michelangelo's and Raffaello's frescoes. These artists inspired the ceramic art in Deruta highly. It was important for us that they were aware of our art heritage by admiring these artists' works in person.

Ceramic artists in Deruta still use the same art techniques that were in use in the Renaissance period. Drawings were first made on cardboards and then transferred to the walls by using tracing papers. Close up photos of the Sistine Chapel's restored works of art showed us the tracing papers dots underlying the drawings' outlines. Such large dots. Seeing them was very impressive as artists used nails because of the frescoes' dimensions. In Deruta we are used to needles!


                                                  

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Pinturicchio: the artist of the details and of little things

Ceramics reproduction of
a Renaissance broche
originally painted
by artist Pinturicchio. 

Pinturicchio is one of the artists who inspired the ceramics of Deruta along with Perugino as local artists. Pinturicchio was born in Perugia in 1452 and died in Siena in 1513.

He is famous for the details of his works that you may admire in the Cathedral of Siena (on the left side of the Church, the so called "Studio Piccolomini" which is stunning) and in Spello in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (on the right side of the street going up to the top of the town) in the Cappella Baglioni as an example as well as at the Umbrian National Gallery in Perugia.

In 2008  upon the celebrations for the 550th anniversary of his birth, Cama reproduced one of his broches, which in the Renaissance was synonymus with virtuosity. Men and women wore broches equally.

Deruta patterns: The Singing Rooster

Giuliano de' Medici was awakened by a rooster

and for one time could escape murder.

At CAMA DERUTA one of the traditional patterns was the green rooster. We have always wondered about its origins, especially if we think of pitchers shaped as roosters.

The story we hear in the States is that Giuliano de' Medici from Florence in the Renaissance period was awakened by a rooster and therefore he could escape being murdered.

The story is probably true because Giuliano de' Medici went under several attempts of murder in the city of Florence as well as in the countryside, where he had been hiding from enemies.


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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 over the power in the city of Florence right after their father's death and opponent parties tried to kill them several times.

In 1478  the "Pazzi" family conspired against Giuliano and Lorenzo in repeated attempts to eradicate their power. On one of these occasions, Giuliano was murdered in the Cathedral of Florence, and his brother Lorenzo was left wounded. Giuliano was only 25 years old when he died.

Coat of arms of Giuliano de'
Medici's family. 

The reaction of the city of Florence was unexpected towards conspirators. The population of Florence got furious and attacked the Pazzi family's members as well as their accomplices with heavy consequences. As a result, the Medici family remained in power. 

However, with the death of Giuliano de' Medici, the flourishing Renaissance world of arts lost one of his most passionate and youngest partons. 

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If we think of Greek mythology , the rooster is the sacred symbol of Mercury and we feel this adds meaning to our curiosity: Rooster=green= good luck. Green is also the color of Venus, it means beauty.

The singing rooster can be found on vintage Deruta plates with a note of the pentagram ("DO di petto= C in English). Color variations of the rooster pattern are red and blue. But green is still the predominant color. 

This pattern is also known as the "Orvieto" pattern because it is dedicated to the town of Orvieto, where there is a ceramics tradition producing a distinctive green leaves pattern. Deruta artists added the rooster to the original Orvieto leaves pattern in the 1920s, a very fertile revival period of Deruta ceramics. The Green Rooster pattern is the most medieval of all Deruta patterns because it carries fewer colors than the Renaissance traditional patterns, namely Ricco Deruta and Raffaellesco. 

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The Cama rooster pattern is the best! It is painted by my father Renato who has learned from the great artists of Deruta. The rooster is lively just like my father's personality. There is lots of love in it! Renato Niccacci is also the artist of Arabesco Verde and Siena black and white designs.

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