Among the oldest Tuscany crafts traditions there is certainly the art of creating and decorating ceramics!
Hello Dear Explorers!
Today I’d like take you on a guided tour into the world of Tuscany craftsmanship, to be more specific into the one of hand-made and hand-painted ceramics.
As you know, in addition to working as Florence tour guide and organizing cultural and art tours in Tuscany, I also work as a Personal Shopper and since I am a fashion and crafts lover, I often go look for some particular and unique product that I can tell you about. This is how the Rampini family shop caught my attention!
Ceramiche Rampini: family of ceramic artisans for 3 generations
During my explorations among Tuscany best medieval towns, not far from the historic center of Radda in Chianti, I discovered this splendid workshop nestled in Tuscany hills managed by the Rampini family, which has specialized for many years in the production and decoration of handcrafted ceramics.
One of the owners, Romano Rampini, kindly accompanied me through the halls of his shop and laboratory to show me all the stages of making hand-painted ceramics.
He first told me about his family and that this artisan tradition has been handed down for generations and then he explained how Tuscan ceramics are one of the oldest and most renowned craft in the world.
Florentine handcrafted ceramics: from the Etruscans to the Della Robbia Renaissance family
Think that in Tuscany already Etruscan people were producing high quality ceramics , a tradition that continued even in Roman times and that reached its maximum splendor in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when the majolicas of the Florentine, Pisan and Sienese artisan workshops were exported all over the world .
Furthermore, in the early 1400s the Della Robbia Florentine family had begun to experiment with an innovative terracotta decoration technique that achieved incredible success: it is the terracotta invetriata technique ( glazed terracotta ), so called thanks to this very solid, glossy and compact coating that makes it similar to glass.
Therefore that of ceramics is a very old tradition that is still carried on with passion, commitment and dedication also by the Rampini family.
Completely hand painted ceramics, decorated with motifs typical of Tuscany countryside
Their laboratory is incredible, locate in the beautiful countryside of Tuscany that gave them inspiration in the choice of some decorations dedicated to the colors, animals and plants typical of the nature that surrounds them.
Floral motifs, lemons, poppies and even wild boars, hares and foxes are some of the protagonists of their ceramics and are all strictly hand painted, one by one.
Among the collections of tRampini family you can find complete lines of table and kitchen ceramics as well as purely ornamental pieces but you will also have the possibility of having customized ceramics in color and / or design, thus obtaining a unique and inimitable product.
I was really impressed by the quality and originality of their creations and so I decided to select some of my favorite pieces and collections to present on my website and that, if you want, you can already buy on my online shop.
Porcelain Museum: a museum totally dedicated to handcrafted ceramics in the Boboli Gardens in Palazzo Pitti
In addition, if I have intrigued you a bit by telling you about the origins of Tuscan ceramics, know that in Florence there is also the Porcelain Museum, which you can visit during Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens guided tour. It is in fact located on the highest hill of the garden, inside an eighteenth century palace, and houses the collections of table porcelain belonging to the ruling houses that have succeeded Palazzo Pitti, from the Medici to the Lorraine, including the Bourbon dynasty and Napoleon’s sister, Elisa Baciocchi.
A very interesting museum, perfect for those who love local history and traditions and which can also be included in my Florence craft tour.
Contact me privately to book a private guided tour or even to get some more information on what to do in Florence and on alternative museums to visit in Florence.