Montelupo pottery classic decorations

Uccellino di Montelupo
 After talking about the history of pottery of Montelupo Fiorentino, it's time to talk about the classic and historical decorations.
There are several types of decorations and they're usually mixed up in pottery in order to get a better result. In particular we can divide them in four main themes: geometrical decorations, natural decorations, animals decorations and Arlecchini decorations.

Pottery geometrical decorations

Geometrical decorations of Montelupo pottery
 The geometrical decorations take their inspiration from geometrical shapes and the main pottery decorations are the checkerboard (scacchiera), rhombus (rombi), ribbon and fractured ribbon (nastro e nastro spezzato), ovals and rhombus (ovali e rombi). Another particular decoration is the Santa Fina, that is a line and a point making a band on the pottery.

Pottery nature decorations

Nature decorations
 The natural decorations of Montelupo pottery are inspired by plants and the most famous are the Persian palm (palmetta persiana), the shrunken leaf (foglia accartocciata) and the Montelupo leaf in blue and white (foglia di Montelupo). Another particular nature decoration is the zaffera a rilievo, a blue leaf made in relief. 

Pottery animals decorations 

The classic decorations inspired to animals are the rabbit, the deer, the dove, the porcupine, the bird, the slug and the majestic lion.
Deer pottery decoration

Pottery Arlecchini decorations

This decoration is one of my father's favorite and he probably made more than 500 decorations by hand during his life. The Arlecchini are funny figures telling a different story every time. But for now I don't say much more, because I want to introduce you to their marvelous world in another post.
Arlecchini di Montelupo

Other important decorations of Montelupo pottery

One of the most famous decorations of Montelupo pottery is certainly the Rosso di Montelupo, literally Red of Montelupo. This is a very rich decoration, generally made on plate with little angels on a red background. There is also a band with arms and coats.
Rosso di Montelupo
 Nowadays we recreate all these decorations mixing them up to decorate our handmade Italian potteries, giving them a more contemporary look but sticking to our history and tradition.


Popular Posts