Il Giardino dŽItalia
Terracotta from the Tuscany - the Garden of Italy

Basically there are two areas of Tuscany famous for the production of terracotta products - the region around Sienna and the village of Impruneta in the hills of Chianti. Both of these areas have been famous for their clay work since Etruscan times and it is still true that the highest-quality, hand-made terracotta products are made here.

Machine-produced terracotta products will not be mentioned here as they are produced in a totally different way and are of inferior quality.

The difference in the clay quality between terracotta from Sienna and Impruneta is a result of the unique composition of the soil in the Impruneta region. It is only this earth with its unusually high mineral, aluminium, copper and iron oxide content which, when fired at 1,000°C, fuse together and give the terracotta products their high durability and frost resistance.

You can read about the differences in quality of the "terracotta d'Impruneta" in the report published by the trade publication "Floristik International" (1/97 edition) (Read English Translation of the report here.) Unfortunately, as a result of the forces of supply and demand, many old terracotta producers have started using clay mixtures instead.

This is the reason why our Impruneta collection only contains terracotta products from "Luciana Biliotti®" which owe their good reputation to the exclusive use of pure, unadulterated clay.