MATTEO DI LIETO MAJOLICA VASE FOR ARTE CERAMICA AMALFI

MATTEO DI LIETO (1895-1972) was born in Minori, Italy on the Amalfi coast, and was the son of a pasta maker.  From childhood, he loved modeling figures with the leftovers of the pasta dough he found in his father's factory.  When he grew up, he started a little hardware shop, but his passion for modeling moved him to eventually open his own pottery studio in Amalfi where he had gone to live after having married.  During the war, in 1943, the family moved to the nearby village of Atrani where he had built a bigger and more efficient pottery factory that became renowned for the production of artistic majolica of the Vietri tradition.  His "Arte Ceramica Amalfi" studio was very active all through the '50s and '60s, and most of his art and pottery reflect the vivid colors and sea life of the beautiful Italian coast.  Subsequently, on Matteo's death in 1972, the factory was taken over by his son, Gaspare Di Lieto, himself also very fond of arts, who continued production until 2006 when the studio closed its doors.  Gaspare passed away in 2018.