THE ENTRANCE HALL
The walls are decorated with nineteenth century and early twentieth century maiolica tiles from Naples and Vietri sul Mare (Salerno).
They are rare because during the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, maiolica pavements were substituted by industrially printed cement tiles, favored by the emerging middle class because they were less expensive. This led to the closing of the most important maiolica tile factories.
THE NEOCLASSIC ROOM
Named for the ceiling decorations and the mid-nineteenth century Neapolitan pink and black maiolica pavement, the walls of this room are completely covered with tiles and portions of maiolica pavements, also of mid-nineteenth century Neapolitan origin. Here the focus is on classical themes such as such CAVE CANEM, the precise copy of a mosaic in an ancient villa of Pompeii, and the panel dated 1878 from the DELANGE-DELLEDONNE factory that repeats the grotesque decorations of the Vatican loggias against a blue background.
THE FLOWERS ROOM
Named for the floral ceiling decorations, this room has a decorated cement pavement from the end of the nineteenth century. Two walls have been covered with Neapolitan tiles and portions of pavements from the 1700s: a pavement with an interwoven decorative motif and a compass rose at the center; two panels with blue roses of Chinese influence; and tiles from the Giustiniani factory imitating mosaics, Greek vases and cross stitch embroidery. The other two walls display portions of pavements and individual tiles of the 1800s. The panel imitating a wooden parquet and the panel with Arabic geometries of stars are particularly worthy of note.
THE BURGIO ROOM
These rooms are named for the place of production, BURGIO, a Sicilian locality near Agrigento. The first room houses pavements and tiles of the 1700s and 1800s from Burgio. The smaller tiles refer to older periods of production. The typical colors are recognizable: COPPER GREEN, IRON OXIDE YELLOW, BLUE and MANGANESE PURPLE. The second room, with ceiling decorations that imitate floral fabric, displays tiles that date from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The oldest tiles are distinguished by their ultramarine blue color and surface scratched decorations (graffiti in Italian).
THE VASE ROOMS
The room is named for the ceiling, decorated with monochromatic vases. On display, there are Sicilian pavements and tiles from Santo Stefano di Camastra dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. The typical geometries of the kitchen tiles and the two large panels with attached decorations in relief are noteworthy. Other outstanding pieces are the beautiful terracotta stove, sculpted with allegories (Naples, 1700s) and an antique display cabinet with tableware by GIUSTINIANI, ROSENTHAL and FLORIO.
ANTEROOM OF THE STUDY
In this small room, some individual nineteenth century tiles from MISTRETTA, not far from Santo Stefano di Camastra, are on display.
THE ROSE ROOM
This room is named for the dado decorations with bunches of roses. The tiles and pavements on display come from Palermo and date from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The panel (end seventeenth century) depicting the castle of San Nicola l’Arena surrounded by a wreath of leaves and birds of paradise is attributed to the well-known ceramist, GURRELLO. Also on display in this room, a collection of tin boxes and toys of the early 1900s.
THE LIBERTY ROOM
The room takes its name from the ceiling decorations of the Art Nouveau period (known in Italy as the “Liberty” style from the name of the English department store that characterized the period). The displays in this room present Sicilian tiles and pavements from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. The very small formats of the tiles from Caltagirone, Sciacca and Collesano of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries are quite rare. There are also some twentieth century tiles from Palermo on display in this room. Finally, a display case contains a selection of vintage writing implements including ink bottles, boxes of pen points, inkwells and boxes of pencils from the historic shop on Via Roma, Cartoleria Perna, which still exists.