Ceramic Vases

I always have had this penchant for those foreign sounding English words! And thus when I came across these absolutely beautiful looking ceramic/terracotta vases with an equally beautiful sounding name, obviously I couldn't resist it! Scrafitto Ceramic vases. Lovely shades of blue, pink and brown. Antique look, simple design...I just had to find out more...And guess what I found out! Sgraffire means "to scratch" in Italian. And from there it follows that Sgrafitto is an Italian term for scratching techniques usually associated with scratching through layered ceramic glazes to expose the underlying glazes.

This particular vase that I saw was from the City of Arezzo in the Tuscany region of Italy. These vases date back to the early 20th Century (about a 100 years old now!) and are so well preserved that they still look retain their bohemian look. Germans have been using this technique since the 13th century and Italian since the 16th. I guess it cam to the rest of the world through the Italians, hence the Italian sounding name.

Montevarchi in Arezzo is noted for the Church of S. Lorenzo and the museum that is attached to the churh. The museum has an example of glazed terra-cotta work of Candrea della Robbina and his school and a monumental tempietto that is decorated with firezes of cherubs. An Italian I know said: Come to Arezzo for the true, quality antiques at the dozens of legitimate antique shops in the centro. I wish I could go at least to see, touch and feel those simply gorgeous looking Sgrafitto vases whose creators taught the world the art of scratch painting. While I was browsing to know more, I came across this South African company that has given itself the name of "Sgrafitto" itself as they main use this technique to create some beautiful art pieces. It seems after Germany and Italy, the Africans have taken to this art form very seriously. So much to know, so much to learn, so much to enjoy...