Calabria – Seminara: Fire, Folk, and Symbolic Clay
Our selection from Seminara, Calabria celebrates craft, community wisdom, and symbolic artistry. These wood-fired ceramics are not merely decorative—they embody folklore, utility, and regional identity.
Function & Belief: Everyday objects such as fish-shaped votive bottles or ring-flasks (ciambella) once served pilgrims and farmers, symbolizing devotion, femininity, and resilience.
Nature’s Almanac: Forms like the ricci worked as primitive weather indicators, predicting drought or fertility of the season.
Living Tradition: Seminara’s master artisans (Ferraro, Condurso, Ditto) continue this legacy today, with works that once even inspired Picasso.
These Calabrian objects are artworks that are never just “beautiful,” but vessels of the region’s past, present, and soul.
Local Materials & Firing: Fired with chestnut and olive wood, Seminara ceramics achieve earthy glazes enriched with oxides—greens, yellows, blues—that carry the essence of Calabrian land.
Story, Ritual, Humor: Protective masks guard against misfortune; playful gabbacumpari trick unsuspecting drinkers—each form carrying narrative and imagination.
Sicily – Myths, Guardians, and Living Traditions
At Open Studio Firenze, we see Sicilian ceramics not merely as objects but as vessels of history and identity.
The Testa di Moro embodies Sicily’s layered cultural story: a mix of myth, devotion, and artistic mastery. Originating from a legend of love and betrayal, these iconic heads are today guardians of balconies and gardens, richly adorned with crowns and ornaments that reflect Sicily’s Arab-Norman heritage.
Santo Stefano di Camastra offers pieces that carry the exuberance of popular art—vibrant, hand-painted vases and tiles deeply connected to the island’s folk identity and rebirth after the 17th-century earthquake.
Together, these traditions connect past and present, folk culture and contemporary art—expressing exactly what guides our studio: selecting works with particularity and meaning, objects that carry voices across time and geography.
Handpicked Traditional Ceramics from Sicily
Ceramics from Caltagirone
Caltagirone has a thousand-year history, whose origins date back to prehistoric times. The city has seen the passage of numerous civilizations, from the Sicels to the Arabs, from the Normans to the Spanish, each of which has left an indelible mark on the urban and cultural fabric. The name "Caltagirone" derives from the Arabic "Qal'at al Ghiran", which means "Castle of the Caves", referencing the numerous caves present in the area.
During the Norman period, the city experienced considerable development, becoming an important commercial and cultural center. However, it was under Spanish rule that Caltagirone reached its maximum splendor, especially thanks to the art of ceramics, which still today represents the symbol of the city.
Testa di moro 540 euro
Purchase from our collection of traditional and contemporary ceramics
Why are Caltagirone ceramics famous?
Caltagirone ceramics are famous for their artisanal quality and for the richness of the decorative motifs that combine influences from different cultures. Each piece is unique and handmade, using techniques handed down from generation to generation. Furthermore, Caltagirone stands out for its variety of styles and colors, ranging from naturalistic designs to geometric and arabesque ones, making these ceramics a true works of art.
On the border between the provinces of Messina and Palermo, about 50 kilometers east of Cefalù, lies the town of Santo Stefano di Camastra, better known as “The City of Ceramics”.
It is located 70 meters above sea level. It is a very characteristic town, unique in its kind.
“City of art, Santo Stefano, gateway and the highest point of the Nebrotic world, a precious urban and architectural jewel restored to its original purity.
A small world where the oldest work of man, ceramics, miraculously persists and is continually recreated, which unites and harmonizes the four Empedoclean elements, which creates shapes, continually invents new lines and dazzling colors.” (V. Consolo).
The story continues…
Santo Stefano di Camastra is today a point of reference in the art of ceramics and is the largest ceramics production center in western Sicily. The artisan workshops, which support the country's economy, boast an artisanal production of ceramics with a very rich repertoire of shapes, figures, and colors that coexist with traditional motifs.
Contemporary Ceramics
The price of the small objects in porcelain varies from 100 euros to 35 euros.
CLAUDIA MASTRANGELO
Lives and works between San Pancrazio in Tuscany and Milan.
Uses stoneware for her sculpture-vases “Donne” (women) in various sizes.
Women who face their destiny.
Objects fully anchored in timeless archaism.
She also uses porcelain to create cups and vases, both figurative and abstract.
Marcela Gottardo
The price of ceramic objects varies from 850 euros to 150 euros the smallest one.