DESCRIPTION In the 1980's Biordi's started expanding its dinnerware selection. At that time a new pattern was created; the now popular blue Bordato design. The Legend of the Italian Rooster Pitcher ~ The origin of Rooster Pitchers dates back to the early Renaissance period (15th century) in the Republic of Florence. The Medici’s were the ruling family in Florence, and as the wealthiest and most powerful, the Medici family had a lot to celebrate. And celebrate they did! There was a rivalry, power struggle with another leading Florence family, the Pazzi’s, who also had strong influence in Florence and resented the Medici’s and vowed to overthrow the dynasty. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to murder the Medici’s, the Pazzi’s enlisted a double agent to convince the Medici’s to host one of their lavish parties in the village of Gallina, where they would assassin Guiliano Medici. They waited until the Medici family members and their guards were inebriated and then would attack. As the Pazzi assassins were in the outskirts of the village, they came upon a field of roosters, and upon crossing them, the roosters crowed. The Medici guardsmen awoke and were able to defend the Medici’s and capture the assassins. The next day, the Medici’s ordered the artisans to pay homage to the roosters and create ceramic pitchers modeled in the roosters’ image. These ceramic roosters were used as wine vessels as the Medici’s celebrated their good fortunes. After the fortuitous turn of events on that evening in 1478, the Medici’s sent each of the families of Gallina a ceramic rooster as a symbol of good luck. The ceramic rooster pitcher was very popular over the subsequent 16th century and today is a tradition many Italian families continue to enjoy. Often, the Italian ceramic rooster pitcher is given as a wedding or housewarming gift, or as a gesture of goodwill. “Il Buon Gallo” or “Good Rooster” has become a symbol of luck, abundance and prosperity. For questions on special order products, please contact Biordi Art Imports at (415) 392-8096 or email [email protected] The small imperfections such as the difference in color, shape, diameter or small bubbles that form inside, do not constitute a defect but testify that it is actually an artisanal product. Artisan Story Bordato – This design, the Bordato, was one of the first modern geometric designs conceptualized in the early 1980’s through the direction of Gianfranco Savio. Today we refer to this ceramic direction as the geometric movement. When you order this hand-painted Classic Deruta Dinnerware you can mix these patterns with each other. Another way to go is to combine the "full designs" dinnerware with their "simplified" versions that you see next to each other in the above photos.
