5. Ceramica

Il Poggio was not only a B+B, it was a "ceramica"--a small producer of hand made ceramic ware.  

I discovered that these small family-owned ceramicas were fairly common and an old tradition in Tuscany--the pots, dishes and bowls crafted here are famous and collected by people who appreciate good folk art.

Elisabetta had converted one wing of her old mansion into art studios and a large sales room.

She had made other suites into firing and work rooms with storage shelves for work in progress and a big walk-in gas fired kiln. 


 Making clay figures was her specialty. She was an expert potter with the wheel but to save time would often have another local potter come in and throw half a dozen stoneware pots which she would keep soft--covered with plastic bags. When she had time from her cooking and the management of her B+B hotel, she would decorate these pots--transforming them into Great Earth Mother style female figures. 

Elisabetta's artist sister Doris, who lived in another hotel owned by Elisabetta's family on Lago Majori at the Swiss border, would come down once or twice a month to decorate plates, bowls and cups. 

A young German woman who had been trained in a polytechnic university in Germany also lived and worked at Il Poggio. She threw precision coffee cups, saucers, boiled egg cups and things like that on a potter's wheel at a wonderfully fast pace.

Elisabetta let me work in the ceramica all afternoon and all night if I wished--any time I was free from the other little tasks she assigned me.

This was great for me because I have always been interested in art but never had the chance to use all the equipment and materials necessary for ceramic work.

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