How our Italian artisans are handling the pandemic

 

 finished bespoke order of monogrammed mugs, monogrammed dinner plates, monogrammed cereal bowls, monogrammed pasta bowls

        Over the years Provvista has had products produced on the West Coast, France, and Italy to name a few. Methods have changed, glazes tweaked, and monogram stamps improved but the common thread in all of this has been the search for the perfect custom dinnerware that we can bring into our lives and the lives of those we love. Italy has been a huge aspect of making Provvista happen. The scenery can't be beaten, the culture is rich and the people are wonderful. The memories of collaborating with Italian artisans on custom organic dinnerware both from afar and in their studios with them are priceless. When COVID-19 began to invade Italy in March it felt close to home despite being 5,000 miles away. We knew our artisans' day-to-day life was drastically changing. (Soon that virus became even more real when we too had to fight the virus in our home country.)

monogram coffee mugs molded, stamped and ready to be fired

Thanks to technology we are able to communicate with the artists in Italy daily to discuss orders, new ideas, and life. Never would we have imagined a pandemic being added to the top of that list. Over the course of the past 2+ months we as a team, have learned so much from the artisans we work with, in Italy. Not only have we learned about the virus, as Italy was a month ahead of us on the Corona timeline, but also in the many ways they are so quick to overcome business and life challenges. They were quick to tell us how this virus was a war, a fight between the Italian people and Corona.

March 13th update from Italy. Social Distancing at the Super Market

Government restrictions to keep Italy safe limited businesses to allow owners to work on-site and the rest of the employees work from home. This left our Italian husband and wife duo to work long hours at the studio without the help of other employees. Not to mention, the fact that this field of work cannot be done from home. The drive to the studio and back is the only place they were allowed to drive thanks to a government-issued pass.

single "M" monogram mug

"We are working miracles to not stop production."

another bespoke custom dinnerware order in Italy ready for shipment to the US

Despite these more than imperfect circumstances they continued to produce beautiful monogram coffee mugs, monogram dinner plates and other bespoke dinnerware pieces to fulfill orders amongst the COVID-19 challenges all while trying to stay safe and healthy. Enjoy these glances into the studio of our Italian Artisans these past two months. We are so thankful for these hard-working partners. Provvista would not be what it is today without their dedication to their craft and our company. 

custom Provvista dinnerware boxed up and ready to head to our customers!