Italy is well known for its beautiful hand painted ceramics. The most prominent location to find these beauties is the town of Deruta, in the Umbrian Region. You will see hand painted ceramics in towns throughout Italy…but to see where most are made and thus to have more opportunity to find exactly what you want, Deruta is the place to go.

DERUTA’S LOCATION

This map will give you a general idea of where Deruta is in comparison to the prominent towns of the Tuscan region.

And now, to the town itself, and getting to the heart of Deruta’s ceramics. As you can see in this map, Deruta is a fairly large town and very spread out. But alas, the place that we want to go today is that within the red boundary. And getting there is next up.

Getting to Deruta

As most of us are familiar with using the map features of our cars GPS, phones and pads, here is information that you can enter to get right to the entrance to the heart of the ceramics of Deruta. Deruta Placens is one of the main shops, and is found just as you drive into the Derutan heart, which you will see in a moment.,

LET’S GO INTO THE HEART OF DERUTA

Here is the entrance to the heart of Deruta. Note the sign at the left. It explains about parking. Here is what it says:

Historic Center: Park within the designated spaces. There are parking meters where you can park by the hour between 8am and 2pm.

And what is that large, round, yellow thing to the right? Here is a closeup. I don’t think that you will be able to fit this within your luggage when you return home. But no worry, as having your fragile purchases shipped to your home is no problem.

Now, just drive through the arched entrance and then straight and up until you get to the heart. Then, on your right, you will immediately see the Deruta Placens that we used with our GPS to get here. That is my wife, Ellen, going in to do our first bit of shopping.

NOW, TO THE HEART

Here are a couple of photos of the Deruta heart. There are shops on each side for 406 feet, according to the Google Maps measurement device.

LET’S LOOK AT THE ARTISTICWARE

So, from here on, I have many photos to show you of what you can expect to find there. Just click on the first image to get a full-screen view and then use your arrow keys or your mouse to advance through the photos. As you look at the photos, know that as we were in the heart of Deruta, our own hearts were beating with impression and desire.

When images begin to repeat, click on the X at the top right

That’s quite a variety of beautiful hand painted ceramics! Now, it is time to make a purchase.

THE PURCHASE

Ellen has found an artists work that she desires. A sample plate has been placed on the counter and she is taking a photo. Paperwork for shipping back to the U.S. has been filled out. It is highly recommend that you ship your purchases back. If you don’t and breakage happens in travel, you are out. If you ship and something happens, you are covered by insurance and things can be made right again.

And here is our artisan.

AND NOW, BACK HOME WITH OUR PURCHASE

Our purchase of several plates shipped back to our home with no problem. Here is Ellen holding one of our beautiful hand-painted plates.

*Ellen’s selection for our dining pleasure*

But wait…there is a bonus within our order! On the back of the plates is says, “Hand Painted in Deruta for the Burkett Family”. That was such a nice gesture.

*The dedication on the back of each plate*

These are now our daily plates, and every time we use them, we relive that day in Deruta…and in Umbria…and in Italy.

That’s it for today. If you are anywhere near Deruta and you have a desire for hand-crafted ceramics, you should very much enjoy your time there. And there are several restaurants right the in the heart of Deruta for you to satisfy you Italian food cravings.

And now, it is time for me to say, may God bless you and yours, and…

Ciao for Now,

Steve

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Hand Painted Ceramics? Let's Go to Deruta!