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From the hilltop town of Squillace, Calabria, where potters have worked the red earth for centuries, comes this handthrown sgraffito bowl by husband-and-wife artists Claudio and Beatrice of Il Tornio. Wild grapevines curl around the rim, their leaves and clusters etched by hand, framing a warm terracotta center that’s made for sharing. Outside, the bowl is left in its natural terracotta, smooth and warm in the hand.

Squillace’s ceramics are protected by Italy’s C.A.T. designation, the ceramics equivalent of a wine’s DOC. Every piece is made in town, following traditional methods. Sgraffito technique involves shaping clay by hand, allowing it to dry, and then applying a thin white layer of clay on top (engobe). Artists then scrape off the white layer by hand with a tool (sgraffito) in intricate designs, revealing the contrasting color underneath. Upon firing, the incised design looks dramatic and beautiful against the reddish earthen clay color.

No two are perfectly alike.

• Bowl measures about 7.5″ in diameter x 2.5″ deep
• Hand wash
• Handmade; slight variations exist
• Imported from Calabria, Italy
• Stamp of origin on underside