The 'Blue Hydrangea' Plate in our 'Hand-painted Ceramics Collection' is crafted by famed Italian ceramic maker Fima Deruta, and designed exclusively for Backcountry Mercantile.
This is an individual dessert plate with a blue rim and measures just under 8 inches in diameter. It may be used as an antipasto, appetizer, salad, dessert, or breakfast plate.
**Please note that handcrafted ceramics display minor imperfections from the creation process. Trapped air, producing slight air bubbles, is inevitable and color may vary.**
A Guide to Handmade Italian Ceramics
Italian dinnerware is traditionally made of red or white clay. To find out which, simply turn the object over to see the unglazed area on the bottom. This visibility of the clay shows what once prevented the object from sticking to the kiln during the firing process. (Ours are made of red).
The red clay is the thicker of the two and is usually used in dinnerware that needs to be more resistant to high temperatures and everyday use.
The 'hand' work of creating these masterpieces begins with the raw clay material which is molded into the object's final shape. Aside from flat plates, which are sometimes hard-pressed to achieve their perfect shape, most objects are spun on the potter's wheel.
After about two to three days of air drying, and prior to the first firing, the pottery is cleaned and sanded of small imperfections or bumps.
Each object is then dipped into a 'bath' of fast-drying liquid glaze, usually white or cream, that serves as an opaque base before decoration is applied with mineral paints.
When dry, the object is ready to be 'decorated'. The design is first 'drawn' using a century-old technique called 'spolvero'. This is when the artist 'transfers' the design by dusting powdered charcoal through pinpricks previously made on a thin sheet of paper.
The object is then meticulously painted by hand stroke in color, true to maiolica tradition.
The raw colors seldom match the fired colors. The chemical reactions amongst the various metal oxide colors, the glaze, and the temperature, are what produce the final look. It takes many trials and errors to produce the perfect color.
Lastly, the object is then placed into the kiln for a final firing. The charcoal from the original sketching burns in the kiln, leaving no trace behind.
