Rampini Ceramics' Staff

Giuseppe Rampini, the founder and former principal of Ceramiche Rampini died on October 25, 2010 after a short illness. His generosity, enthusiasm and love of life, his passion for knowledge and his willingness to share with others, as well as his wonderful stories will be missed by many.
Tiziana and Romano Rampini

Giuseppe Rampini

Giuseppe founded Rampini Ceramics (officially Ceramiche Rampini s.r.l.) in the early 1980s, together with his son Romano and his daughter Tiziana. Their precise aim was to create high quality ceramics in the Renaissance tradition, particularly following the work of Mastro Giorgio (Giorgio di Pietro Andreoli), who worked in Gubbio for most of his long life. Mastro Giorgio, specially well known for his technique to apply metallic luster to plates, produced sets for the tables of the Federico de Montefeltro court in Urbino and ceramics for the rich families of Mantua, Venice and Florence. Nowadays Mastro Giorgio's plates can be seen in some of the great museums: the Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology in Oxford, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Getty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Giuseppe Rampini was born in Gubbio in 1923, learning during the '30s all the various processes connected to the production of beautiful ceramics. After his first work experiences in Gubbio he became director in two important glass factories in Florence where he produced mosaics and stained glass for important buildings such as:
- murals for the MIT in Cambridge, MA
- a large mural for the entrance of the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX
- the mosaic facing for a 53 story building in Dallas, TX: 1 million sq feet
- an art mural for São Paulo de Brasil Cathedral
He was also involved in important reconstruction work after the Second World War in several European countries.

In the early '80s he decided to go with his family to live in the Chianti, the area from which his wife originated. He took on a unused and rather derelict old farmhouse on the Vistarenni property near Radda in Chianti. Basic restoration created a modest studio to paint ceramics and fire them in a small kiln. Initially the work of the Rampinis concentrated on the traditional decorative pieces and the customary decors handed down by many generations of potters, which Giuseppe knew so much about. Their work was appreciated by visitors from all over the world, and soon they were asked also to create tableware with the decors their customers liked so much. They also started to develop new decors extending their classic range with more contemporary colours and designs while maintaining their high quality standard. The small studio and the kiln became bigger and the old farmhouse now also contains some beautiful showrooms and there is an elegant shop in Florence where everybody who cannot come to the Chianti can buy and order Rampini pottery.

Nowadays Giuseppe does not participate in the day-to-day running of the business any more, but is as interested in his ceramics as he always used to be and loves to talk and write about the origins of decors and the traditional shapes still produced as they were centuries ago.

Barbara

Barbara has worked here at Rampini for eight years. Her previous work experience in the hotel trade and helping her parents set up their own restaurant, has given her a good base on which to contribute to the customer relations side of our work.

She manages our shop here in the Chianti and the customers love her extensive knowledge of the ceramics and her easy-going nature. She is the person who greets customers when they arrive from nearby country hotels or after long drives from Florence, Siena or Lucca. She speaks perfect English and German. Her favourite pattern, and the one she gets very enthusiastic about when selling it to customers, is Frutta Blu (Blue Fruit).

 

Debora

Debora came to us in 1997 after specializing in ceramics at the Art Institute of Siena. Her love of art goes back to when she was a child and she remembers summer afternoons painting watercolours of vineyards and olive groves in the Chianti countryside. Debora’s grandmother is a great friend of the Rampini family and it is through this connection that she came to work here with us.

The first pattern that Debora was asked to paint was the Lucertole (Lizards) pattern and to this day it remains her absolute favourite design. She enjoys painting colourful nature-inspired designs and loves coming to work each day, especially in the spring, when the small piazza here in front of the workshop is full of cherry and almond blossom. Debora’s constant companion is the cat, Monica, that lives here and sleeps her days away among Debora’s paint pots.

 

Dolly

Dolly, our designer, is a native of New Zealand. She came to Italy in 1991 to visit her cousin who was opening a restaurant here. Through her cousin, Dolly was introduced to Romano and Tania and a friendship and work relationship began, which is still strong today.

Dolly graduated from Canterbury University with a degree in Fine Art majoring in print making, followed by a year at Bath University and one year spent in London working with the best contemporary artists of the time such as David Hockney and William Scott. Her interest has always been in design and colour and her first encounters with ceramics involved her playing with and re-arranging traditional Italian patterns. Her New Zealand influence has brought freshness to the more classic Italian designs that we produce.

Dolly’s inspiration is the rich Chianti countryside which every month has a new delight to show us. As our designer, she is responsible for developing new patterns and teaching and guiding our other painters how to achieve the best results, using their own talent whilst painting her designs. She is much loved and respected by all who work with her and have her as a friend.

The fact that Dolly is not Italian means that her creative mind is not too influenced by traditional ideas and she has been more willing to experiment with colour and design.

Interesting to think that she came to Tuscany to help out her cousin who was opening a restaurant and now, 15 years later, she is at the heart of a thriving ceramics business!

 

Fiona

Fiona came to Rampini Ceramics 12 years ago after coming to Chianti for what was initially meant to be a year out between completing school and beginning university. She arrived at the end of the tourist season, and spent the winter months getting a close up and personal look at every aspect of the business of producing top quality ceramics. When Easter came around, she was well equipped to begin working in the sales room and spent 5 years getting to know customers and helping them chose pottery.

After extended maternity leave, she came back to us and this time was in the office looking after customer relations and answering all queries and requests. She also wrote many of the texts on this web site. Fiona’s all time favourite design is Blu Tania and everybody remembers how horrified she was when Tiziana gave her dog a bowl of water using a bowl painted with her favourite pattern!

 

Francesca

Francesca has worked here for eight years and came to Rampini already having a strong family tie to the business. Her sister, Tania, and childhood friend Romano asked her to come and take on the role of accountant for the firm and Francesca happily accepted. The change was much welcomed by Francesca who previously worked in the centre of Siena at a busy travel agency. Living in nearby Gaiole she comes to work each morning after having dropped her two children at school.

Her favourite design is Fiori di Lino (Linseed Flowers) and for a dinner set she would choose the Country Olives pattern.

Francesca and her husband Renzo, who also works for the business, have wonderful memories of a summer evening passed with the whole team from Rampini. A work dinner was organized with everybody bringing a different dish to eat and a long table was set up on the terrace here in front of the studio. Renzo, who, when he is not working here, is a locally well-known singer, serenaded his wife with everyone joining in at the end of the song.

 

Laura

Laura came to us in 1998 from a much loved job of restoring antique Medici murals in many of the great villas that one sees all over Tuscany. She was exposed to much beauty and remembers with wonder the amazing scale and enormity of some of the projects that she worked on. She specialized in restoring fine silk murals and upholstery at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Unfortunately, or fortunately for us, there are only so many magnificent old villas with murals to be restored and when work slowed down, Laura came to us at Rampini.

She remembers being nervous before her interview but was so taken with the beauty of the patterns that she was asked to paint that she did a perfect job and was hired on the spot. Her favourite pattern to paint is Limoni Antichi (Lemons Antique) and she would love a set of dishes with the Virgilio Foglie (Virgilio Leaves) pattern for her own table. The shape that she absolutely adores is the Japanese salad bowl and she has several at home that are used variously for serving salad, macedonia (fresh fruit salad) in the summer and one in particular that her husbands makes sangria in for long summer evenings with friends.

Laura has a fond memory of two customers that were impressed by one of the pieces that she had painted and were particularly struck by her signature on the bottom of the piece. They asked to know her and took a photograph together with her. Upon receiving their ceramics, they sent us an e-mail showing a photograph of their kitchen, where, proudly displayed, was the photo of Laura.

Laura was born and still lives in Montevarchi and has two little boys and a daughter to keep her busy while she is not here with us.

 

Nicoletta

Nicoletta has worked here since 1999. She specialized in porcelain design at the Institute of Art in Sesto Fiorentino, but changed her angle on design radically, as she studied for two years at architectural school in Florence. This new interest gave her the opportunity to combine these two fields and she had the amazing chance to spend two wonderful years restoring important artwork in Florence.

As happens in life, things changed radically for Nicoletta when she met her future husband. They moved from Florence to the Chianti countryside and Nicoletta came to work with us here. She loved the challenge and works closely with our designers creating and enhancing our patterns.

Her dedication to the complete cycle of the ceramic process became clear when Nicoletta expressed an interest in learning also the glazing and kiln firing stages of our production. As well as being a painter, she can actually professionally glaze the pieces and prepare the kiln for firing.

An inspirational person to work alongside, Nicoletta draws her own personal inspiration from the long and happy walks she takes every day with her much loved golden retriever Tara. Her favourite pattern to paint is anything in monocolour, and her choice for her own dinner service would be an array of different dishes all painted in monocolours. Her son loves his mother’s work and is himself interested in ceramics.

 

Pino

Pino has worked with us for 11 years. He is at the heart of our production. His expertise in glazing and managing the kiln make our ceramics the beautiful works of art that we are famous for.

Before working with us he worked for many years as a butcher in the nearby village of Gaiole in Chianti. His friendship with Romano and Tania made him an obvious choice when they were looking for an intelligent and capable person to handle the more industrial side of the business. Pino was already working here when the major changes in our production took place: the arrival of our wonderful kiln, the evolution of the glazing process and the technological improvements that have made his job more efficient.

Pino was born and raised and continues to live in Gaiole in Chianti with his wife Rachel, an artist, and their three children. His favourite pattern is Country Olives Blue as it reflects the countryside that he cultivates with olive trees around his home.

 

Renzo

Renzo has been working at Rampini Ceramics for eight years and is essential to the efficiency with which our wonderful ceramics are shipped all over the world. He co-ordinates the production times on all our orders and prepares all the documentation that the ceramics need to arrive safe and sound at your home, wherever you are.

Before coming to work here, Renzo worked for 10 years for another local business and, when his good friend Romano Rampini needed a computer expert and someone to co-ordinate the important shipping side of the growing Rampini business, Renzo was the perfect person.

His absolute favourite design is Frutta Blu (Blue Fruit) and he would love to give a dinner set with this pattern to his wife. Speaking of Renzo’s family, wife Francesca and sister in law Tania both also work here and his two delightful children are frequent visitors in the summer school holidays.

 

Rita

Rita manages our Florence showroom. She has been working for Rampini Ceramics for 10 years and joined us at the very start of our project in the city. Her dedication and love for home decoration made her the absolute best choice for the position of manager. Before coming to work for us, Rita worked for the Tuscan tourist board promoting the region abroad. She gained a lot of experience in the US, marketing Tuscany and Chianti and all the products that originate from this area of Italy. Her favourite pattern is Foglie Debora (Debora Leaves) and she is building up a nice collection of it in her home.

 

Romano

Romano began painting ceramics aged seven. He spent his summer holidays in his Uncle’s pottery laboratory in Gubbio, a place famous for its ceramics since the 14th century. His uncle told him that he could bring vases and jugs to life by giving them colour and this phrase has remained with Romano ever since.

His Uncle explained to him every brush stroke and every colour change as Romano sat mesmerised in the hot summer heat. If he had paid enough attention, his Uncle would let him paint a small object and if it was well done then Romano’s reward was an ice cream.

His desire to develop the passion that his Uncle Pietro Rampini had installed in him was what encouraged the idea to go into business and open his very own ceramics workshop. Even today Romano thinks of his Uncle, asking himself whether the pieces he makes are good enough to deserve that much sought-after ice cream!

 

Tania

Tania is a native of Gaiole, the village close to our ceramics factory. She was a childhood friend of Romano and his sister Tiziana. Her love of art and her passion for Florentine renaissance pottery design was what made her an ideal choice for Romano when he was looking for a friend to start up a ceramics business.

In the early days, Romano, Tiziana and Tania did everything themselves, the glazing, the painting and the firing, and these years of experience have shaped Tania into one of the most precious assets that this business has. There is not a part of the production process that she is not familiar with and her advice to the other painters is considered of utmost importance.

She paints all our fruit patterns and is particularly proud of Tutti Frutti, her absolute own creation and a design that is loved by many. She loves travelling to South America and has brought back some great ideas that have resulted in new colour combinations and design ideas, for example Frutta su Senape (Fruit on Mustard) and Frutta su Menta (Fruit on Mint). The combining of the colourful fruit with a mustard or pale green background was inspired by some great drapes that Tania bought in Caracas!

 

Tiziana

Tiziana is one of the founding members of the Rampini Ceramics business. She was brought up in a family where all the adults, to a greater or lesser extent, were involved in art. She was born in Gubbio, a magnificent Umbrian town world famous for its ceramics production.

Her childhood memories are engaging, with tales of playing on the dusty floor of her Uncle’s ceramics studio and accompanying her Father around the world as he installed the stained glass mosaics that he hand made, in various churches across Europe and America. The need to feel more settled was what encouraged Tiziana to embark on the ambitious business venture with her brother and their friend Tania. It is very pleasing to her that now her son has also opened his own ceramics workshop.

Tiziana paints berries and blossom in her own line of patterns that cover the four seasons. She is also an enthusiastic sales person and enjoys spending time with customers.

 

Verim

Verim has worked here for seven years and is a native of Kosovo. The wonderfully packed ceramics that our happy customers receive everywhere around the world are all fruits of his skilled hands and precision in safely preparing our delicate work for shipment.

Before working with us, Verim worked for a large wine and olive-producing farm in the Chianti and it was through his friendship with Romano that he began his career here with our ceramics. Our packing methods are modern and efficient and Verim manages to balance the right amount of care needed when preparing our ceramics for shipment with the highly modern process that guarantees our ceramics arrive on another continent without any damage.

He is married, with his first child on the way, and lives in Gaiole in Chianti. He loves his job and has made many strong lasting friendships with his co-workers. He told me that he feels blessed to work here every day. His favourite piece is the large decorative wall plate with Arcimboldo on it and one day, he would like to give it to his parents as a gift and have them hang it on their wall.

For further information and to order contact@rampiniceramics.com.
Due to the characteristics of monitors the colours in images may vary from the original ceramics pieces.
Copyright © 2009 Rampini Ceramics (all text and images).