Umbria boasts centuries of tradition in terms of crafts.
Ceramics, wrought iron, textiles, lace - just some of the fine crafts manufactured in workshops and laboratories across the region.
The earliest documented evidence of textile weaving in Umbria dates from between the 11th and 13th century. By the 14th century the so-called tovaglie perugine, the earliest examples of which date from a century earlier, had become fashionable as altarcloths throughout Italy. Generally they consisted of a linen base decorated with either geometric
HANDICRAFT
Documents dating back as early as the 13th century testify to ceramics being produced in Deruta, although it was not until between the end of the 15th and the mid-16th century that the town entered its golden age in terms of ceramic and pottery production, branching out from the manufacture of everyday domestic pieces to ornamental items decorated
HANDICRAFT
At the beginning of the 20th century there were a number of mostly independently-run carpentry workshops in Città di Castello. The town was enjoying a revival in taste for period furniture, helped also by the tradesman and antique dealer Elia Volpi, who in 1912 donated his collection of antique furniture (still visible in the Pinacoteca) to the local administration, thereby inspiring local craftsmen to
HANDICRAFT
Although the actual names of the many great woodcarvers that worked in Umbria from the 15th to the 17th century remain unknown, a good deal of examples of their remarkable skills survive to this day, such as the 16th century choir in the Church of San Pietro in Perugia, that of the Cathedral of Todi, the stalls and pulpit of the Collegio
HANDICRAFT
Ceramics production in Umbria dates back to the 13th century and remains the region’s best known craft export to date, with various towns each sporting their own distinctive styles and designs. These include Deruta, Gualdo Tadino, Gubbio and Orvieto, as well as Umbertide with its characteristic black glazing and Città di Castello, known for its heraldic decorations and relief
HANDICRAFT
Art and
handicraft, both expressions of the
great medieval culture, and then the
Renaissance, have been refi ned over
the centuries by means of ongoing
exchanges
HANDICRAFT
