W.018 - Woman with fan - fischietto / frischittu
Terracotta flat-backed female figure with fan.
Fired clay, dipped in white lime coating and then painted
blue, yellow, red, green, black.
Tubular whistle attached to back of figure at waist.
135mm (h)
Ceramiche Iudici
Caltagirone, Sicily
20th century
Caltagirone is mostly renowned for its highly-refined, brightly-coloured glazed ceramics. However, the Caltagirone botteghe also produced other items which were in demand by the locals at a particular time of year. Among these were traditional religious statuettes, pasturi for Christmas cribs, and of course fischietti. Very often the whole family participated in their production line, including children. This particular statuette of minimal artistic merit is in fact carrying on an old tradition of flat-backed figures with a tubular whistle inserted in the back. The Iudici bottega has been using old moulds which have been passed down generations. This figure was made using one of these old moulds. Once the statuette was biscuit fired, it was coated in lime and then painted in bright clear colours. This fischietto would traditionally have been sold to children during Easter time. The works of Giacomo Iudici (1884-1950) and of his son Mario (b.1928) can be seen exhibited in the Museums of Caltagirone, Rome and elsewhere.
Caltagirone is mostly renowned for its highly-refined, brightly-coloured glazed ceramics. However, the Caltagirone botteghe also produced other items which were in demand by the locals at a particular time of year. Among these were traditional religious statuettes, pasturi for Christmas cribs, and of course fischietti. Very often the whole family participated in their production line, including children. This particular statuette of minimal artistic merit is in fact carrying on an old tradition of flat-backed figures with a tubular whistle inserted in the back. The Iudici bottega has been using old moulds which have been passed down generations. This figure was made using one of these old moulds. Once the statuette was biscuit fired, it was coated in lime and then painted in bright clear colours. This fischietto would traditionally have been sold to children during Easter time. The works of Giacomo Iudici (1884-1950) and of his son Mario (b.1928) can be seen exhibited in the Museums of Caltagirone, Rome and elsewhere.
