Optimum Handicraft

The artistic handicraft of the Piceno territory is based onancient - and traditional activities performed with local, traditional materials. The art of woodworking and restoration is spread all over the Piceno territory - Smerillo, Carassai, Monte Vidon Combatte, Montegiberto, Amandola, the latter standing out among all the communities of the Sibillini mountains thanks to the skilful hands of its craftsmen who make and restore wooden furniture. The origin of this art goes back to the late Renaissance age, when local aristocracy used to commission precious works to artists and the churches were traditionally adorned with altars, choirs and confessionals carved by skilled craftsmen. Inlay, linearity of construction and solidity make these products beautiful and functional at once. The art of wood working, furniture restoration, inlay, lacquering and gilding involves a thorough knowledge of local customs and traditions, as well as of historical periods and the materials used in those periods - the restoration of antique furniture by the cabinetmakers from Amandola evokes moments of history and past life. The art of woodworking is handed down in the territory of the Sibillini mountains, thus bringing life and visibility back to villages undergoing substantial depopulation.

Another two handicraft activities that deserve special attention are lace making and copper working. In the past centuries, working with vegetable fibre fabrics and wool was a fundamental activity for the maintenance of the family - the trousseau of a bride was wholly woven and embroidered at home. However, needlework and weaving were also performed in tailor's shops, each village counting several of them, especially Offida, Castignano and Castorano. In these towns, even today the production of embroideries and laces is still renowned and the products are much sought after. The tradition of these handmade treasures shines through the choice of yarns and patterns. For centuries, pillow needlework was made not only by lower class women, but also by noblewomen and nuns in the numerous convents of the Piceno territory. Pillow lace techniques entered the local production of passementerie around 1400. Around 1600, the local working and production of pillow lace was so renowned for its quality and refinement that a real market started around the article, with merchants exporting it together with the name of the place of origin. The preciousness of the local product is also witnessed by the petition addressed in 1728 to Pope Benedict XIII by the local people, asking for protection and measures against those merchants who dealt in 'laces from Chioggia'.

In 1889 Offida handicraft items were in great demand all over Italy. In Offida, Castignano and Castorano, embroideries and laces are now produced in family-run workshops - it is not unusual to see women sitting in the street, in front of their own houses, embroidering and making pillow lace just as in past centuries. The art of ceramics - i.e. the handcrafting of products in hand or wheel-thrown fired clay - became a professional category in the Middle Ages. In the towns of Montottone and Massignano there was a prevalence of kilns working for the building industry, while in the Ascoli area the professional category was represented by makers of majolica ware coming from Northern Italy. The word 'ceramics' derives from the Greek equivalent of 'clay' and entered modern languages with the meaning given by the Latins to the word 'fictilis': a basic raw material obtained by mixing clay - either in its natural state or mixed with other substances - with a suitable quantity of water to give it sufficient plasticity and cohesiveness.'

The art of potters and makers of majolica ware flourished in the Piceno territory until the last century. The production included ornamental plates and decorated eating plates, vases and other decorative objects for the house, handmade in colours purposely studied to make each of them a one-off. Other products typical of the Piceno territory are copper and wrought iron. Force and Comunanza, 'towns of coppersmiths' and blacksmiths in the Sibillini mountains, preserve the traditions of this handicraft from the Middle Ages. A typical container to store drinking water is the copper vessel that women used to carry perfectly balanced on their heads.

Optimum Handicraft

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