Ceramics handmade in a Maltese palazzo

Down a quiet, leafy street in the village of Attard, Malta, there runs a long, castellated wall belonging to Villa Bologna, an 18th-century palazzo. Cut into the limestone blocks, a scalloped window offers a peek into one of the country’s oldest ceramic workshops.

Villa Bologna Pottery was founded in 1924 by Margaret Hulton, wife to future prime minister Gerald Strickland, to provide jobs for a local community struggling to find work after the war. Following heavy bombing during the subsequent world war, Hulton’s stepdaughter Cecilia de Trafford moved the business to the stables of the family’s villa, reviving it with the help of British ceramicist Charles Bone and his wife and sculptor Sheila Mitchell, and reopening it in 1951. They particularly drew inspiration from the surrounding flora and fauna, imbuing pieces with a signature Mediterranean character. The pottery has remained in the family, and in the former stables, ever since.

Admiral vase in Rosa, £140

Dolphin lamp in Pistachio, £490

More recently, Sophie and Rowley Edwards, friends of Cecilia’s grandson Jasper de Trafford, stepped up to run the pottery and rejuvenate it for a modern audience. Today, the light-filled shop is lined with colourful ceramics and housed in the same building as the workshop, where a team of local artists continues to hand-make and paint the pieces on site. “Having the production and shop connected creates an immersive experience,” says Sophie.

Celebrated pieces include turquoise lamps inspired by the Dolphin Pond in Villa Bologna’s garden (from £270); the now-iconic ’70s pineapple lamp (from £340); sailboat lamps painted with evil eyes, a talismanic symbol believed to protect fishermen (from £485); and fish-shaped Glug Glug jugs (from £48). Particularly popular are plates, platters and pasta bowls (from £22, £58 and £26) adorned with fruit or leaping fish, conceived by the late Aldo Cremona, one of Villa Bologna’s best painters, who worked there for 65 years and trained up a swath of talent. Sophie says she loves mixing and matching the designs: “You can completely change the look of the table with different combinations”.

This sense of creating beautiful handmade things for the home is in my DNA

Each piece of traditional earthenware takes several weeks to make; the ceramics are cast in their moulds using clay from Stoke-on-Trent and left to dry before being hand-painted, fired, glazed and fired again. “The technique of the production hasn’t changed for decades and with so many ceramics now being mass-produced, there are few potteries that still maintain these standards,” says Rowley.

The Edwards have expanded the range of ceramics, and added to it with homeware items such as placemats woven in Colombia. As well as dipping into the rich archive of traditional motifs, they have introduced new ones such as stripes and palm trees — evoking the island’s spirit in their own way. “Villa Bologna Pottery has always been a part of my life,” says Sophie, who spent her early childhood in Malta and still remembers the pair of pineapple lamps beside her mother and father’s bed. Her parents are Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, who set up The Rug Company, and from a young age Sophie saw them working with craftspeople around the world. “For me, this journey and sense of creating beautiful handmade things for the home is in my DNA,” she says.

Alongside the shop revamp, an ecommerce website has been built and a restaurant opened next door. The trattoria serves Italian wines and seasonal dishes such as sea bass with saffron, red peppers and basil, with much of the produce grown in the grounds of Villa Bologna. Of course, everything is served on Villa Bologna tableware. “Sitting at a table eating local produce on our plates is just a lovely way for people to experience Malta,” says Sophie, “And it’s a renaissance for the pottery.”

Villa Bologna Pottery, 30 Triq San Anton, Attard, Malta; villabolognapottery.com

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