Like all children, when I was growing up, my sisters and I enjoyed making fun of our parents. My mother was a particularly easy target since it was usually so easy to make her laugh. And today she is still the first one to make fun of any number of her own quirky habits. She can crack herself up by just starting to tell a story about some ‘fantastic’ find at a tag sale.
One of our early targets was her obsession with ‘rooster’ pitchers when we lived in Italy in the seventies. Coming from St. Louis, our house had been filled with (as far as I can remember) pretty standard white tableware. So when my mother first saw the brightly colored painted ceramics all over Italy she was smitten.
I thought they couldn’t be tackier. Especially those pitchers shaped in the form of a rooster with the spout in the form of a beak through which you poured wine, water or whatever. But my mom? She couldn’t get enough of them. Even when we moved back from to the States from Italy, when asked what she wanted us to bring her from a trip to Italy her first reply would always be “a rooster pitcher!”
It wasn’t until I moved back to Italy on my own, in the late ’80’s, that my own love affair with majolica started. While I was a graduate student in Florence I was asked by the owners of Nick and Toni’s to head down to Vietri for them, to stock up on hand painted plates for their soon-to-be-opened restaurant. And that’s when I realized that almost every region, every town, had it’s own distinctive patterns, colors, shapes and designs. And that yes, I loved them all.
So fascinated was I by the subject of the diversity, that I eventually wrote a book about the subject, on Umbrian ceramics from the small town of Deruta, where they’ve been making majolica for about 600 years.
You would think, at this point, that my cupboard is groaningly full of brightly colored plates. And it is. I admit it. I’m a ceramic junky. I’ve got six full sets of dishes from everywhere from Sicily to the Veneto, not to mention various bowls, mugs and platters from every other town in between. But that doesn’t stop me from dreaming. And in fact, my camera and this blog actually helps alleviate my need to actually buy. Nowadays I can take oodles of photos and fill this blog, instead of my shelves.
Last week I spent the day in Orvieto, and was once again reminded how each small town has a completely different history when it comes to ceramics. Even though Orvieto is only about a 40 minute drive from Deruta, the ceramics couldn’t be more different.
I spent a half hour oggling and trying to justify buying a coffee set with renaissance portraits, a sugar bowl with a verdant deer and – yes I will admit it right here in public – a rooster pitcher.
Because you see my mother’s obsession has finally come full circle. As you are walking down a narrow alley in Orvieto and see a stack of anthropomorphic pitchers pointing your beaks at you, you might just look the other way. But me? I’m trying to decide which one to buy. Because even if my own cupboard is full, I’m sure a rooster pitcher still tops my mom’s wish list. 
There are tons of places to buy ceramics in Orvieto, but this one is my favorite, right down the street from the Duomo.
Jolanda Artiginato
Via del Duomo 66/68
Tel: +39.0763.342.420
Email: [email protected]
love the portrait coffee set. I’m sure we can all find a need for that one
Yes, you definitely need more ceramics!
I love my rooster pitchers!!! Unfortunately one was broken during our last move. I of course have other Deruta pottery to keep my roosters company
I carried place settings (note the plural) from Positano to New York for years. Not to mention the serving pieces and jugs. Now I have my apartment in New York and my apartment in Fort Laudedale filled with these beautiful pieces and each time I use them I am reminded of the wonderful places I visited when I made the purchases and the fun I had trudging home with them. So I say to you and your mom…rooster on!! Thanks for the fun post.
How can you not be smitten with the ceramics in Orvieto?
I know the shop and…They even ship!
It’s dangerous when you know they ship!
One good thing about being a visitor to Italy is that you simply have to resist these purchases cause fitting them into the already overweight luggage is a problem…did sneak home a few smaller pieces from Deruta, just couldn’t resist! I too was amazed by the variety. Musn’t forget our coffee mugs “not traditionally Italian” bought in Cortona either. I have a fondness for the patterns and colours of the ceramics in Sienna.
I hope you bought some!
Thanks Elizabeth. We will be visiting Orvieto in early October and will be sure to visit Jolanda Artiginato.
Any recommendations for lunch while in Orvieto?
Yes…stay tuned!
Hey! How did my mother’s rooster pitcher get in to your blog?
I think everyone’s mother has at least one rooster pitcher.
My heart palpitates when I walk into a ceramics shop…I completely understand your addiction. Now after reading your enjoyable post, I need to buy 2 rooster pitchers-one for me…and one for my mom…
After reading this post, I immediately forwarded this link to my friend in LA. We met as exchange students in 1979 and our love affair of all things Italian continues to bloom. We traveled to Deruta & Orvieto 6 years ago. We had shipping bills of over $600 from ceramics in those two towns. We still hide that little fact from our significant others.
My love of Italian maiolica started even before I moved to Italy in 1978…my walls and various table spaces are full:from Deruta,Gubbio, Montelupo Fiorentino,Siena,Palermo,Assisi,Orvieto,Faenza,Amalfi,etc…one of my dinner sets is the Gallo Verde from Sbnerna,Orvieto,bought in 1985,and of course I too have a white dinner set:Vecchio Richard Ginori,a design from the 1700’s…passion…
Hello Elizabeth
I am in Tuscany right now, searching for a huge ceramic rooster. Is San Gimignano my best bet?
With thanks, please email me at [email protected]
Actually, there are several well stocked ceramic stores in Florence, if you are there. They are all on my app, Eat Italy.