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Ceramika Maltija lace sgraffito design ceramics have a long history. Cecilia de Trafford (a daughter of Lord Strickland, the fourth Prime Minister of Malta) in the 1930s started a company called Malta Industries, this assisted local producers of Malta lace, weaving and pottery to promote and standardise their products. Blue prints of Malta lace designs were produced so that outlets such as Harrods in London could order specific items. From 1952, when the Ceramika Maltija pottery was established in the ground of Villa Bologna those blue prints were used as inspiration for the sgraffito pattern that appears on these very decorative, labour intensive plates.The process for their making involves the white earthenware plate being air dried after making and bands of underglaze colours painted onto the surface. Scratches are then made though the colour to reveal the underlying white clay and the design is created. No stencils or prints are used in their making. The work is then biscuit fired to 1050 degrees centigrade, a clear glaze is applied and the work is fired a second time to 1150 degrees centigrade producing a hard and durable functional item.
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CERAMIKA MALTIJAat Vil la Bologna
Lace Sgraffito Design
A HERITAGE POTTERY
30 St Anthony Street, AttardTel: 21417973
www.ceramikamaltija.com
THE ORIGINS OF THE CERAMIKA MALTIJA LACE SGRAFFITO DESIGN
Lace making forms part of Malta’s cultural heritage. In the 1930s the founders of Ceramika Maltija promoted lace making in Gozo by creating blueprints for lace makers to work from. The lace sgraffito designs are based on those original blueprints
ORIGINAL MALTA LACE BLUEPRINTS
ORIGINAL 1960s MARKETING MATERIAL
SGRAFFITO – THE PROCESS
Sgraffito is a technique used by a ceramic artist which involves scratching through an on-glaze colour that has been applied to an unfired clay body of a contrasting colour
All designs are created free-hand without using templates or stencils
This picture shows Ceramika Maltija white earthenware, slip cast bowls with sgraffito lace design and transparent glaze, fired to 1135 degrees centigrade
Although different Ceramika Maltija functional forms are decorated with the lace sgraffito design, plates remain the most popular
CERAMIKA MALTIJA – A HERITAGE POTTERY
Photography – Sue Mifsud
