Pantelleria – The Black Pearl of the Mediterranean

12th Sept 2024

Set within the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, Pantelleria is a land of wind, sun, and lava. Our range Pantelleria embodies the powerful natural forces that shaped the Mediterranean island. The tiles, crafted from black clay and refractory stone elements, draw inspiration from the volcanic geology, the lush vegetation, and the surrounding seas.

36 miles east of Tunisia and 65 miles southwest of Sicily, the tip of a vast underwater volcano forms an island. The island, which is currently called Pantelleria, has been known by many names throughout its history.

Abundant deposits of volcanic glass, or obsidian, drew Neolithic settlers here 10,000 years ago. They knapped the obsidian into cutting tools which were traded across the Mediterranean to Sicily, Sardinia, the Levant, Anatolia, and as far away as Armenia. They left behind domed tombs made from volcanic rock called sesi, which remain today.

Around 750 BCE, the Punic people brought vines and built underground cisterns to capture the winter rains, sustaining them through the hot, dry summers. Agriculture spread through the deep valleys, adapting to the demands of the climate, and the island, now called Yrnm, enjoyed prosperity and autonomy under the mandate of Carthage.

The conquering Romans renamed the island Cossyra, and built a sanctuary dedicated to Venus beside the Specchio di Venere (the Mirror of Venus), a lake fed by thermal springs. Archaeologists have found three older structures beneath the Roman ruins. One is dedicated to Tanit, the Carthaginian goddess of fertility, motherhood, and the moon. The earliest dates to the Bronze Age, the time of heroes; could Pantelleria be the fabled island of Ogygia where the goddess Calypso held Odysseus captive for seven years?

Approaching the island, the bluest of skies looks down upon wine dark sea crashing against a beachless shore. In these wind-swept areas, a low scrub of rock rose, mastic, and myrtle gives way to gariga, consisting of lavender, rosemary, thyme, and other drought-resistant and aromatic plants. Arboreal shrub vegetation of pine accedes to forests of holme oak at higher altitudes. Bee-eaters, hoopoes, golden orioles, and kestrels cut the air while green tortoises, geckos, and the obsidian coluber hug the earth.

Wind defines the island.

The plants grow low and slow, pressed by the sirocco from the south and the maestrale from the northwest. Tall, thick, drystone walls enclose lemon, orange, and tangerine orchards which adjoin the traditional dwellings, dammusi. The Zibibbo vines, a variety with roots in ancient Egypt, are grown in hollows and pruned to hug the ground.

Zibbibo is a gloriously golden wine, intense and aromatic, with hints of orange blossom, apricot and almond, and is also known as Moscato di Alessandria. It is a good eating grape; the name derives from zabib, ‘raisin’ in Arabic. The fertile volcanic soil yields the best capers in the world, preserved in salt, and traditionally planted using blowpipes to fire seeds into the crevices of the protective walls.

The dammusi are an example of a vernacular architecture in harmony with its environment.

Refined from existing structures during the three-hundred-year occupation of the island by the Aghlabid Emirate, the dammusi are low, vaulted buildings constructed using local lava stone. They typically have a square floor plan and are topped with a dome-shaped roof.

A dammuso is assembled without mortar and features a double layer of roughly cut stones creating thick, windowless walls. The thick walls, which retain heat in the winter, keep it out in the summer. The roof vault, or dammus in Arabic, helps ventilation. These roofs are coated with white lime and serve the purpose of collecting rainwater, which is then channelled into cisterns.

The quadrangular shape allows for easy extension. Internally, there are no doors, only passiaturi, open corridors which connect rooms and help with temperature regulation. Passiature also refers to the open-air social space covered by arches or trellises to which inhabitants retire in the evenings. A low wall for sitting on called a ducchena can be found here.

Architect and designer, Elena Pancaldi, has worked for years with the dammusi of Pantelleria. The use of thermal mass, natural ventilation, solar shading, rainwater harvesting, local materials, and a profoundly contextual and sustainable design are a source of inspiration for the team at her experimental workshop, MADREMATERIA.

Elena has drawn upon her long association with the island and her site-specific work enhancing dammusi to create a collection of ceramic tiles for Solus. The range, called ‘Pantelleria’, is an attempt to capture, in material form, the spirit of the island.

A new ceramic material, created from clays used in vitrified stoneware, is enriched with minerals and other natural components. For ‘Pantelleria’, the base is a black clay mixed with refractory stone elements, referencing the volcanic environment of the island. When the extruded clay pieces are fired, their internal compositions create unique, organic patterns on the surface of the tile which have the appearance of cooled lava. The highly distinctive features of each tile, including the colours, are retained through the body.

Elena drew inspiration from site-specific work on Pantelleria enhancing dammusi to create the range.

The colours of the range are similarly inspired by the island

Lime whites, obsidian, the ultramarine of the sea, caper green, and a pink as soft as the Venusian mud. When the colour absorbs into the clay before firing, subtle variations in texture and tone occur due to the natural characteristics of the clay material and create a complex patterned matt finish. A glossy finish, created when the colour oxidises before absorbing into the clay, expresses the shining volcanic glass that brought people to the island in the first place.

As the sun sets over the ducchena, the orchard, the vines, the gariga, the shore and the sea, the winds slow and settle. Peace descends on this remarkable island Pantelleria, or as it is named in Arabic, Bint al-Riyāḥ, the Daughter of the Winds.

Solus is delighted to bring this spectacular range to market on behalf of our partners, Opificio Ceramico. We hope the story of the island deepens you appreciation of the collection.