Plat ancien de Grottaglie, XIXe siècle
ambiantTrouvé dans le sud de l’Italie, ce grand plat à glaçure blanche provient de Grottaglie, dans les Pouilles.
Contrairement aux plats de poterie populaire locale, souvent épais et rustiques, cette pièce présente une forme fine et peu profonde.
C’est peut-être ce qui lui confère une présence calme et raffinée.
Même sur place, de tels exemplaires sont rares ; parmi les céramiques utilitaires de Grottaglie, celui-ci exerce un attrait tout particulier.
- Size
- φ31 × H2 cm
- Country
- Italie
- Origin
- Grottaglie, Pouilles
- Estimated age
- XIXe siècle
- No.
- AN-8094

Robba Bianca
"Robba bianca," meaning "white things" in Italian, is a significant category in the ceramic history of Grottaglie, Puglia, in Southern Italy. It symbolizes the technological maturity and refinement of lifestyle culture since the late 16th century.
Its foundation lies in a production system connected to the Majolica technique, which involves applying an opaque white glaze containing tin oxide (tin-glaze) and completing the piece through two firings. However, unlike the ornate Majolica known for its painted decorations, Robba Bianca suppresses decorativeness, positioning itself as a regional and practical evolution that finds value in the form of the vessel itself and the texture of the white glaze.
The beauty of this style lies in the contrast between the strong red earth (terra rossa) nurtured by the Puglia land and the soft white glaze that embraces it. The warmth of the clay faintly perceived beneath the glaze layer, or the reddish-brown clay body that peeks through the rim and foot after years of use, quietly tells the story of this land's unique expression of white.

















