Category: Ceramics
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Head to the Queen
In the past I’ve told you about the ceramic Moors’ heads and a Palermitano legend behind these. Alternatively, here’s an example of a queen’s head; this one from Santa Stefano di Camastra, a town on Sicily’s north coast well-known for its ceramic artisans and designs. What I’ve learned on my recent trips to Sicily, is…
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A Tranquil Fountain
At one corner of the Cloister of the Cathedral of Monreale, there is a bubbling fountain surrounded by a few of the 228 unique columns that make up this tranquil, not-to-be-missed site. Built around 1200 AD, William II commissioned artisans from Sicily as well as those from Venice in order to create a unique sanctuary–both…
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Tiles in Erice
Ceramic tile floor photographed inside Erice’s Chiesa Matrice, or Mother Church.
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Love Doves
Ceramic doves photographed in Caltagirone.
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Ancient Mixology
In the end of the 5th century B.C., “The Lugano Painter,” or “Il Pittore di Lugano,” worked on many pieces that archaeologists have unearthed and attributed to him. This “calyx krater,” or urn, shows a bearded Dionysus with his thyrsus (staff topped with a pine cone), a bacchante (female follower of Dionysus (a.k.a., Bacchus) playing…
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She was Popular
Sicily’s archaeological museums are full of terracotta statuettes of goddesses, many of which represent Demeter. Like these pictured here, the goddess of the grain, agriculture, and fertility is portrayed sitting on a throne with her cylindrical headdress (called a polos) and rows of pendants upon her breast. These from Agrigento’s museum are dated to the…
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Mirella Pipia Does it Again
Ceramic vase by Bagheria’s Mirella Pipia.
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You Might Think You’re in Tunisia
In the town of Castelvetrano (Province of Trapani) in southwestern Sicily, we ate house-made couscous at Annaba, a local trattoria in the center of town. Castelvetrano and the region around it are heavily influenced by the culture and art of north Africa, as exemplified by the designs of the tiles on the restaurant’s walls. Looking…
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Coral Salt Earrings
Jewelry-designer Daniela Neri created these unique earrings that recall Sicilian ceramics with tarantella dancers. Daniela is a native of Trapani, and she takes the salt from the local salt flats and makes “coral” out of it–in other words, the beads that you see are not made of semi-precious stones, shells, coral, or glass, but of…