Gaballo line jars: a special limited edition

The art of ceramics is a peculiarity of Italy in general. Like in a symphonic opera there are many voices filling the stage. It could not be otherwise: our country is a cradle of diversity, expressed region by region. Here Apulian ceramics with a solo of its own underlines its uniqueness.

In the book of Genesis God created “man from dust of the ground” and again kneading the earth “he fashioned from the ground all manner of wild beasts and all the birds of the air”. A bit like a master craftsman who makes his creations out of clay from the ground.

For many pottery is a divine fruit. For us at Frantoio Muraglia it is one of the highest expressions of our tradition.

It is no coincidence that we contain the precious extra virgin olive oil in our unique jars finely decorated by Apulian master craftsmen. They are not mere objects but stories of the past and their ancient customs that merge with present everyday stories to project into the future.

We are pleased to present the new line of pitchers created in collaboration with designer Pierpaolo Gaballo. Like for us at Frantoio Muraglia, for Gaballo in each of his creations there is a thin red line that inextricably connects him to our beloved Puglia. Born in Salento, the artist is characterised by continuous research into himself and expressive form.

Black and white: hallmark of the new Gaballo line

The rainbow of the typical Frantoio Muraglia jars represents the thousand colours of our sun-kissed lands. Pierpaolo Gaballo’s limited edition of jars opens a more intimate and reflective phase that will be characterised by the two-tone of black and white.

According to the artists the two elements cannot be called colours. They are formed through light and black embodies precisely the absence of light. Conversely, white expresses the totality of light. In short, it is the starting point for the creation of all colour but it cannot yet be defined as such.

Whether white or black can be classified as a colour or not matters little. They represent complementarity, opposites attract. In the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, black and white come together to indicate the duality of the Universe. The one cannot exist without the other, just as night cannot exist without day. All the elements that make up the world are in some way interdependent on each other.

Thus, our extra virgin olive oil could not exist without a lush nature capable of giving us beautiful olive groves. At the same time man would not survive without a land capable of giving him its fruits. Man is also a metaphor for life and without this, nature could not exist either. An invisible circle unites every element of creation.

Pierpaolo Gaballo expresses the elements of the world through geometric symbols, giving his works an unmistakable trait. Ranging between geometric figures and figurative illustrations, he creates worlds suspended between an archaic past and a future that can only be imagined.

On the limited edition of jars for Frantoio Muraglia there will be three recurring figures: the square, the circle and the octagon.

The square has represented the earth since antiquity, while the circle symbolises the sky. The two figures together express a total. They are at the antipodes, yet completely interdependent. One would not exist without the other.

The octagon is the link between the two levels and could be none other than man and his tireless work.

Gaballo’s hidden messages are the right synthesis of our passion. We have been working our land for five generations, respecting it and taking care of it. The sky gives us that unmistakable air that characterises Apulia and allows our olive trees to grow healthy and mighty. The intersection of these three elements leads us to an extraordinary result: Frantoio Muraglia’s extra virgin olive oil.

Subjects on the jars: the king and mother nature

Pierpaolo Gaballo signed the first two subjects of our limited edition of jars. Prominent among the geometric symbolic figures we mentioned earlier are the king and Mother Nature.

The monarch is a figure characterised by the wisdom bestowed by life experience. He is a guide: he can always point his subjects in the right direction. The people esteem him for his actions and consider him an example to be followed and passed on to future generations. All his qualities can be encapsulated in one word: excellence. The same excellence that you will find when you taste the extra virgin olive oil inside the King’s jar.

For us at Frantoio Muraglia excellence is not just a goal to be achieved but a true obsession. We are “stubborn” like our first ‘king’ Savino Muraglia senior who bought a piece of land on the Murgia plateau despite the fact that everyone told him that with olives you cannot make a fortune. We have been following our path for five generations now continuing to harvest the olives by hand and cold–press them in the ancient stone mill. Those who choose our extra virgin olive oil will be able to taste our personal concept of excellence.

The second subject of the jars is Mother Nature, the personification of nature in the form of a woman. This timeless female image generates and gives life. It represents such a strong symbolism that its earliest traces go back as far as prehistoric times, followed in later centuries by the mythical Greek and Roman goddesses.

With this jar Frantoio Muraglia celebrates the creation and power of nature in all its forms. The earth represents life for our extra virgin olive oil. Like an ancient goddess, it creates our olive trees that are so fundamental to our business. It gives life to every hint of scorched earth, to every colour warmed by the sun, to every blue of the crystal clear sea that makes our Puglia, a unique and unmistakable place where the stories of men and women are irrevocably intertwined with nature. They are complementary, interdependent. They are our black and white.

The limited edition of jugs from the Gaballo line is available on our website, and can be purchased in the best specialised sales outlets.