Where to Buy Ceramics in Italy

Don't say I didn't warn you

People often ask about the recipes when they see photographs of meals at my home. But the question I get even more often is: Where do you get all those plates?

The short answer is that I have been collecting brightly colored Italian majolica for more than thirty years.

The more honest answer is that I may have a slight problem.

It is rare that two meals in a row are served on the same plates. Not because I am particularly organized, but because my cupboards are now so full of ceramics that it seems wasteful not to rotate through them.

It wasn’t always like this. In fact, I can clearly remember when my mother used to buy pieces of the stuff when we lived here in the 1970s. To this day my sisters and I still joke about her collection of truly god-awful rooster pitchers. Apparently every Italian ceramics shop in the 1970s believed the world needed more ceramic roosters. My mother agreed.

Back then I had absolutely no appreciation for any of it. In fact, I even looked down on a complete service for twelve dishes from Solimene on the Amalfi Coast that a friend gave me in 1986. Since I didn’t yet have a home where I could store them, I put them away in storage.

Where they sat.

For years.

Thankfully, because that forgotten box eventually became the beginning of the problem.

My change of heart came when a friend asked if I wanted to work on a book with her. At the time I was writing about design, but mostly from an architectural perspective. She gently redirected my attention toward ceramics—more specifically toward the little town of Deruta, which happened to be just a short drive from the farmhouse we had recently bought nearby.

Within a few days of starting my research I was completely under the spell of the craft: the magic of turning humble lumps of mud into brightly colored dishes worthy of a feast.

And apparently worthy of filling every available cupboard in my house.

You can still find the book online, although it is sadly out of print. So while I can’t share the book with you directly, I can introduce you to some of the talented craftspeople I’ve bought dishes from over the last few decades. I’ll also include a list of shops in Florence, Venice, and Rome where—if you happen to be there—you can either pick up small pieces to carry home in your suitcase or order larger ones to be shipped.

Because trust me: once you start, it’s very hard to stop.

And just remember—every piece you buy helps keep alive a traditional craft that is in danger of dying out.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

And it’s also why I’m designing extra storage space in our new kitchen and pantry.

Just in case.

A Personal List: favorite sources for filling your own cupboards with Italian Ceramics