Crita, the Sicilian savoir-faire for contemporary design.

Let me tell you a story..

”Once upon a time, it is said around the year 1000, during the domination of the Moors in Sicily, a beautiful girl lived in the Arab quarter of Kalsa (in the heart of Palermo). She dedicated her days to the care of her beloved plants.
One day, from the top of her lush balcony, her beauty was noticed by a Moor who was passing by. As soon as he saw her, he did not hesitate for a moment to declare his love for her.
The girl, struck by this declaration, returned the Moor's sentiment with passion, yet, dear readers, as often happens in tales of romance, their story, which began with such ardor, was destined for a short life..
Soon the young woman discovered that her beloved had to return to the East where his wife and children were waiting for him.
She felt humiliated, betrayed.
In the middle of the night she killed her Moor in the sleep. Later he cut off the head and created a sort of vase in which she planted a basil sprout, the plant of kings.
The plant grew luxuriant, and soon caught the envy of the girl's neighbors who, from that moment, started making terracotta pots with the same features as the Moor's Head.”

They say revenge is a dish to be served cold..
She took it literally, the beautiful girl protagonist of this legend, betrayed after such an intense story of love and passion.
Here, the turbulent story that hides behind a ceramic object, beautiful and precious, which today has become a refined and particular design element: the Moor's Head, one of the most representative iconographies of Sicilian craftsmanship.

What an extraordinary land is Sicily..

What an extraordinary land is Sicily, a forge of culture and beauty, a wonderful crossroad between the most diverse and ancient cultures. Loved and worshipped by the Greeks, the Arabs, the French.. fascinating fulcrum of the most complex traditions.
A land dotted with milestones, one of which in particular I will focus on today: Caltagirone, a place that hosts one of the most distinctive ceramic traditions in Italy. Land whose proud artisans have forged an extraordinary cultural and artistic heritage that fascinates the world.

Anyone of you who has set foot in Caltagirone, or in Sicily in general, has probably noticed the iconography of the Moor's Head in every corner. Today the Moor’s Heads are almost always reproduced in pairs, man and woman. Both vases, which usually feature a crown or a turban, are richly adorned with jewels, flowers and citrus fruits, as the traditional iconography wants.

However, today I have the pleasure of telling you the story of some special humans who have been able to take tradition and respectfully transport it within the contemporary world, thanks to a linear, clean design and sophisticated chromatic shades, which remind me so much of the interior of the Gattopardo buildings, described in the books of Tomasi da Lampedusa.

Crita Ceramiche is an ode to the beauty of Made-In-Italy, to the history of this beautiful land, dotted with vibrant history and evocative culture. It is an ode to the wisdom of the hands of those who have worked for centuries on the material translation of an authentic story thousands of years old through clay.

Crita Ceramiche is an ode to the beauty that hides behind the scenes, the beauty that must be sought, slowly, the one that tells, that teaches, that inspires.

Three globetrotter Sicilian men, by birth or heart, who have seen a lot of the world, who have been enriched with ideas, fresh inspiration and a cosmopolitan vision in order to be able to give their innovative contribution to an ancient italian heritage.

Crita Ceramiche is the ultimate sample of an Italian craftsmanship which is grateful and loyal to its solid origins, yet it’s dynamic and not stuck in a limiting past, free to evolve through the inspirations of the new times and ideas.

Crita ceramiche has given its interpretation to the legend of the Moor's Head through three famous faces, whose stories are told through the ceramics of their laboratories in Caltagirone:

SULEIMAN

Like tradition dictates, Suleiman portrays a splendid moor full of pride, elegance and mystery.
Suleiman was one of the greatest sultans of the Orient: Suleiman the Magnificent. A tribute to the people who laid the foundation of the art pottery that the residents of Caltagirone have perfected and made unique. The sultan of Crita is deprived of every tinsel and decoration in order to highlight solely the beauty of the face and the brightness and power of the colors. The creative process, from modeling to firing, makes sure that no piece will ever be identical to the previous one, making it in all but name unique. Like every piece of art our Solimano is the fruit of the hands that mold it and therefore we can say that every single Solimano of Crita possesses, like everyone of us, characteristics that make it unique.

ROXELANA

To create this large and sumptuous female moorish head, Crita could only draw inspiration from a powerful, mysterious and fascinating figure of a woman: Roxelana, deeply loved wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, and central figure in the life and empire of the great sultan. Mother, wife, politician, patron, she knew how to shine with her own light. A moorish head, embellished with a pearl crown and pendants that frame its delicate face, that sparkles thanks to the colors of our collection. A tribute to the greatness of women made of lines, volumes and colors.

SELIM

Selim the Blond, this is how this Sultan went down in History, was son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Roxelana.

Faithful to the style that distinguishes Crita’s ceramics, Selim is a sea of ​​color, the color of Sicilian majolica, which rests on pure and elegant lines that give the head its unique and majestic appearance.

A story of beauty, the one I brought to you today, as a concrete example of the complex set of values ​​of heritage, uniqueness, authenticity, history and humanity of which I am proud and incurable supporter.

That beauty made up of people, gestures, places, everything that can be hidden behind an (im)perfect aesthetic; yes because, like everything that is handmade, you will never have two identical pieces, but always unique pieces.

The beauty of imperfection can be understood by enlightened minds, and it is on this path that I strive to take you every day, with the most unbridled love I can feel towards beauty: this divine, precious savior.

CRITA CERAMICHE
IG: @critaceramiche
Caltagirone, Sicilia, Italia