

The origin of everything: Man’s hand. The methods used to create the Lisa Corti products are ancient.

Nothing has changed over the centuries, from the printing of the fabrics from carved blocks, to the weaving with traditional looms, to the colouring and finishing techniques that are thousands of years old. Each product is a long journey between secrets transmitted by generations of local craftsmen that today find their inspiration and encouragement in this new contamination between East and West.


The Lisa Corti mezzeri are made using the ancient technique of hand pressing the engraved wooden blocks (hand-wooden-block-prints). The engraving of the moulds is carried out by an expert chiselling craftsman who reproduces the desired drawing on the mould. The number of blocks always corresponds to the number of the different colours necessary to complete the entire design. These are then soaked in their colour and pressed, one after the other, on the fabric until the design has been completed. It is a time-consuming and laborious task that needs proven experience and precision. Instead, the legendary origins of the famous Blue Ceramic tiles date back to the times of Ancient Egypt and Iran. The materials used are quartz, glass, borax, glue and earth; these are pulverized and mixed with water. Once decorated, the ceramics are coated with a ceramic glaze and cooked in a furnace to create Lisa Corti designs.


It is well known that the “mandala” in India as in Tibet, China and Japan, is a geometric pattern used for religious practices, for Yoga meditation and as planimetry in the construction of the temples or in the creation of the sacred images. The basic elements make up a square with a central point and a frame or multiple frames surrounding it. The Mandala is also the distinct matrix of carpets, tapestries, banners, murals and other forms. The Mandala model characterizes many of the Lisa Corti furnishings, reinterpreted and made with a singular technique: some pieces of rectangular fabric of different colours, are tiled to form a square or rectangle with a rhombus or a square design in the middle, or there is another internal frame with floral or striped patterns.


The manual weaving on wooden looms is a technique that is thousands of years old but has remained unchanged over time. Cotton is threaded through the spool to become an almost impalpable thread. This is then coloured and woven with the loom. It is the women who carry out this wonderful craft that is characteristic of southern India, and they are united in large cooperatives and work in harmony to keep this tradition alive.