Local connections throw open the door to experiences you might not have otherwise. That’s the promise we make to each guest on a Niteo Tour. Take this experience in Deruta, Italy, for example.
We’d explored central Italy for several days when a colleague suggested a day trip to a well-known ceramics gallery. I confess to being more of a foodie, think creamy gelato or hand-made angliotti or anything eaten from a ceramic bowl, rather than a ceramic aficionado. But I deferred to my colleague.
We wound through the Tiber Valley south of Perugia to Deruta, a small hill town well-known as an ancient ceramic center. Artwork from the area has made their way into galleries and museums around the world. I was soon to discover why.
As soon as we stepped into the gallery, we met Michael, a soft-spoken Italian who oversees the development of each piece as well as the gallery where they’re displayed. Though he spoke fluent English, he requested a translation. “It’s important that you understand the details of what we do accurately.”
Most who visit the gallery never step foot beyond the stunning floor to ceiling displays of towering vases, ornate bowls and brilliantly blue platters. But Michael walked deep into the workshop where a cluster of artisans busily worked. Mauro, one of two potters, gently shaped and pulled up the wall of a soon-to-be masterpiece.
Artists take an average 15 days to fashion each piece from soft clay to finished masterpiece
An eighty-four-year old master painter led a team of twelve young painters who first outlined the designs and then filled them with color.
In Deruta, artists overlay ceramics with a special tin glaze that serves as a canvas for intricate paintings.
Each piece takes an average of fifteen days to create. Some as many as two days to paint. Detail and patience and quality are wrapped up in each design, making it a true art form.
Michael told us that increasingly educated and further refined tastes demand finer products. Fine quality is what they deliver. Their team works with architects and buyers from around the country. One of their most renowned works was commissioned by the Vatican Council.
I asked Michael how he’d come to work in the ceramics business. He smiled. “I was born on the same day as the owner’s oldest son. Our mothers met in the hospital and our families have remained fast friends.”
Hours before my insides had sagged at the thought of a visit to a gallery. Now I’d made a new acquaintance whose personal stories and behind-the-scenes look opened up a world I never would have explored on my own.
Explore Deruta on the upcoming Ten Days in Tuscany: A curated tour for women