Santa Lucia's Head

Final presentation

Finn Mayeux and 3 OthersFinn Mayeux
Coffy lessig
Isa Murray

Lucia's Soup Bowl

Santa Lucia's head

A set by Coffy, Finn, and Isa

    Santa Lucia’s Head is a ceramic set of dinner cutlery inspired by food preparation and serving in traditional Italian families in America. The set, containing a mixing and serving bowl, two eating bowls, and a ladle, is perfect for Italian soups or stews, while artistically being designed after a well-known figurehead to Italian religion, Santa Lucia, the Martyr Saint from Sicily. 

     Santa Lucia’s Head with its glazed patterns and Lucia imagery speaks to an experience of many descendants of Italian immigrants and feels very personal and nostalgic to use. The set takes inspiration from Santa Lucia by way of her story and important symbolism that appears in Italian depictions of her. Common examples are a sword; swords are important to Lucia’s imagery, as her story most commonly ends with the antagonists using a sword to kill her. The ladle in Lucia’s Head set is reflective of this; the handle of the ladle resembles a sword's hilt and handle. The ladle can be placed in a thin tunnel at the bottom of the serving bowl, reminiscent of Lucia’s untimely end with a sword to her neck. One of the most common examples of important imagery would be her eyes. In some tellings of her story, Lucia’s eyes were taken from her, while in others, she was born blind. Many paintings of Lucia feature her eyes on a plate she is holding or on her hands. This is well represented by the eating bowls. At the bottom of the bowl, once you've finished the soup, you can see an eye looking back at you.