Our visits to Pino’s family in Cardillo (small borgo of Palermo), always include a stop at the artisan workshop/showroom of Nino Parrucca, creator of colorful Sicilian maiolica splendor.
His varicolored ceramic creations greet the visitor upon entry to the showroom where large creations of painted tiles line the outside walls:
Inside the showroom, multicolored clocks adorn the walls….and the one depicting the wheel of those colorful Sicilian carts caught my eye:
Nearby, plates depicted Sicilian sea scenes as well as countryside views:
Vibrantly-colored pasta bowls, pitchers and lamps were there, too..
…and customers browsed, seeking out the perfect gift..
A recurrent theme of many objects was la pigna (“the pinecone”).
In Sicilian ceramics, la pigna is rich in a variety of positive significances, symbolizing fertility, prosperity, good health and good fortune. La pigna is often given as a gift for success in a new undertaking or to celebrate important life moments such as marriage or a birth.
And a very desired ceramic object is also la testa di Moro (“the head of the Moor”) and Nino Parrucca’s workforce has created some splendid Moro images:
Many years ago – long before we knew the legent – we purchased the Testa di Moro couple in another area of Sicily, Santo Stefano di Camastro, also noted for ceramics in Sicily.
That couple always has a place of honor on the table here in our Assisi farmhouse:
See this video of the Nino Parrucca wonders
Read about – and see – the Sicilian painted carts
