Meet The Maker: Matilda Argiolas

Using an extraordinarily time consuming, traditional technique called ‘cottura terzo fuoco’ or ‘third fire cooking’, her work on a single object can take up to 6 days to complete, and requires the glazed porcelain to be cooked in low temperature (between 720 and 800 degrees celsius). This slow and repeated cooking allows the use of almost any color and also ensures that even the smallest detail is captured. Everything is made by hand, one by one. 

It was the richness and depth of color that first drew PORTA to the work of Argiolas initially, reminding us of the vivid colors found in the frescoes at Pompeii. To achieve her colors she practices a bit of alchemy, mixing different parts of colored pigments and metal oxide, patiently applying them to the porcelain in her studio. The strength of each color is such that almost any combination looks fabulous together - which has led to a lot of design humming and hawing that is ultimately unnecessary because everything she does looks elegant, vibrant, full of mercurial personality suited to all settings whether they are traditional, modern, minimalist or maximalist.

When first working with Matilda, we started with two decorative trays embellished with serpents - using a rich ochre and earthy green. Perfect for keys, jewelry, in your living room, piled with chocolate caramels, these beautiful objects found new homes very quickly. See below for some of our initial inspiration as we thought about color and form for these, along with the images of the trays themselves (the green is sold out but fear not, more are in the works)!

More recently, we kept on coming back to her colors. The combination of which seems to strengthen, embolden and compliment each other in a way we felt needed no additional embellishment. And so we did just that with the Josephine tray, in two colorways which we are now expanding to one more (coming soon) . We love them, anywhere and for anyone. Perfection, just like Matilde’s skills.