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Made in Sicily Processing
On the slopes of Mount Etna, the Artesole Atelier
turns glowing lava into authentic design.
Artesole in Giarre: where material, art and design come together
On the slopes of Mount Etna, Artesole’s headquarters bring together design, lava stone working, artisan decoration and firing. It is here that technical expertise, family experience and aesthetic research shape bespoke creations, made in Sicily and designed to stand the test of time.
In Giarre, Il Sole 24 Ore names Artesole among Sicily's outstanding companies!
We are proud to announce that the prestigious newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore has recognised Artesole as one of Sicily's outstanding companies. Based in Giarre, our company has been praised for its mastery in working with ceramicised lava stone and for artistic creations that combine tradition and innovation. Every piece is conceived as a unique, bespoke work that brings together art and everyday function.
Revolutionising ceramics through art that fits naturally into everyday life
Artesole: craftsmanship and design in ceramicised lava surfaces.
A company that brings together artistic tradition and innovative bespoke creations. Artesole's roots go back to the first experiments with ceramicised lava stone in the 1980s. This innovative venture took shape in 2013, when company founder Giuseppe Sorbello, together with his son Gianvito, who oversees production, kilns, stone cutting, and lava-stone enamelling, and partner Michele Maugeri, who leads design, carpentry, and customer relations, began a unique journey in the ceramicising of Etna lava stone.
Art applied to the ceramicising of lava stone
Artesole stands out in the ceramics sector for its deeply artistic and innovative approach, so much so that it can rightly be described as a creative atelier. Unlike traditional ceramic production, the company has developed a unique fusion of watercolour painting and the ceramicising of lava stone, turning a complex technique into an original artistic language. Master Sorbello brought his background in watercolour painting into the world of ceramics, turning a technical challenge into an opportunity to explore ceramic materials and the endless range of colour effects they can bring to lava stone. This innovation gave rise to the Artesole style, where visual art and functionality come together in unique products. The challenge was to preserve the delicacy and lightness of watercolour on a surface that is both durable and versatile. The result is hand-decorated kitchen tops, garden tables, demountable masonry-effect kitchens, bathroom furnishings, barbecues, and much more, raising ceramicised lava stone to an authentic expression of contemporary art.
Luxury products and customization
Artesole is known for high-quality lava-stone claddings designed for luxurious settings. The company focuses on the premium market, working with prestigious architects and designers and offering bespoke solutions for bathroom furnishings, kitchens, tables, barbecues, indoor and outdoor furniture, claddings, and flooring. Every product is made to the customer's specific requirements, like a bespoke suit. This level of customisation is a constant challenge, because the market is always evolving and often asks for solutions that larger companies cannot provide. Artesole has invested heavily in innovative machinery and tools that allow unique shapes and colours to be brought out in lava stone. Thanks to advanced techniques such as crystallisation, it creates glass-based ceramic surfaces with exceptional colour effects. Firing takes place at temperatures close to 1000 degrees, transforming the lava stone and creating remarkable depth of colour. These distinctive features make it a highly sought-after material for architects and designers around the world.
A dual approach: classic and modern
Artesole follows a dual approach in its production, keeping tradition alive through manual ceramicising while introducing significant innovation into modern design. The classic side is represented by decorations executed entirely by hand by a team of eight master decorators, many of whom trained at art institutes and art schools. The modern side, by contrast, is defined by innovative techniques that use crystalline finishes and reactive oxides to achieve striking visual effects. This ability to combine tradition and modernity is a real added value for increasingly demanding clients. Artesole stands apart from traditional ceramic companies not only because of the quality of its products, but also because of the philosophy behind them. The company has deliberately moved beyond the conventional idea of a ceramist, embracing a more artistic, contemporary, and experimental vision. Thanks to this synergy between art and technology, lava stone becomes a unique material in which aesthetics and functionality coexist in harmony.
A close-knit and competent team
The facility in Giarre covers 3,000 square metres and brings together every stage of production in one place. Work ranges from lava-stone processing to the strictly hand-executed decoration of tables, indoor and outdoor furnishing elements, urban furnishings, and garden furniture, as well as the construction of demountable masonry-effect kitchens and furnishing components for luxury-yacht projects. The company currently employs a team of 20 people, each with a specific role. Expert craftspeople from different specialisms work together to create bespoke, one-of-a-kind pieces in a close-knit environment built around a shared vision. The main departments include design and customer management, lava-stone cutting and processing, enamelling and kiln operations, decoration, graphics, screen printing and photoceramics, and carpentry.
Towards the future: flexibility and innovation
Artesole is committed to preserving the flexibility needed to respond to a market that is constantly evolving. The company continues to invest in advanced technologies such as CNC machinery and water-jet cutting systems in order to meet increasingly specific and demanding requests. These developments improve production while also opening up new creative possibilities. Special attention is currently being given to a new collection of lava-stone plates for gourmet cuisine. Created in bespoke shapes and colours for renowned chefs, these plates are not only visually striking works of art, but also high-performance objects that help maintain food temperature for longer than standard ceramic plates. In a market where few companies can offer this level of quality, Artesole stands out as more than a ceramic manufacturer: it is a laboratory of ideas in which art applied to lava stone becomes a distinctive form of expression.
BETWEEN ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
The secret of the ARTESOLE Atelier lies in its ability to combine Sicilian tradition with innovation, creativity with craftsmanship, and to transform lava stone into artistic creations with a distinctive, contemporary design. These works are intended for a discerning clientele that recognises and values this kind of craftsmanship. Artesole's lava-stone creations are ideal for squares, gardens, driveways, and interior furnishings such as kitchens, bathroom pieces, staircases, floors, and much more.
With the raw material offered by Mount Etna, ARTESOLE loves to transform what many see as a shapeless, soulless grey mass into works of art.
This is the philosophy of the owners, who have shaped their work with complete creative freedom. Giuseppe, Gianvito, and Michele bring that same passion to the daily running of the company. The careful selection of raw materials and their transformation into furnishing solutions is driven by a creative imagination that makes every piece offered by ARTESOLE unique.
Design and refinement are the leitmotif behind every piece selected for sale.
Lava stone brings strength and colour. Wood adds warmth. Iron provides durability. Ceramics bring elegance.
For this reason, every product brings together beauty in its shapes and decorations, technology in the combination of materials, and nature in the materials themselves. As the owners say, each piece expresses a way of living. ARTESOLE therefore offers not only design and technology, but also a genuine spirit of collaboration with its clients, so that both can grow together.
ARTESOLE has been operating in Italy and abroad for more than forty years. It conducts its business with professionalism and seriousness, building a loyal and well-informed clientele. Customers choose ARTESOLE because they know they will find refinement and an avant-garde spirit in every product.
Harmony and innovation are essential in everything ARTESOLE creates: inseparable qualities that give value to the product and quality to the service.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Gianvito Sorbello
- Founding Partner -
Head of kiln operations and lava-stone enamelling
Giuseppe Sorbello
- Sole Director -
Founder of the Artesole brand
(Marketing Manager)
Michele Maugeri
- Founding Partner, Interior Designer -
Head of design, carpentry, and customer relations
OUR TEAM
Artesole Management Team:
Michele – Chiara – Santa – Filippo – Giuseppe – Gianvito
Artesole Staff
Historical photo of Artesole staff
The District's main objective is to promote this precious and distinctive product worldwide: hand-painted ceramicised or majolica lava stone created by skilled local craftspeople, while passing on an artistic culture with centuries-old roots.
ARTESOLE S.R.L. is the only company in Europe able to carry out the entire production cycle of all its products independently.
Industry leader:
ARTESOLE stands out for its long-term investment in innovative machinery and skilled craftspeople, allowing the company to manage every production stage in-house and in step with modern technology.
This distinctive feature is a guarantee of product quality.
Our facility in Giarre covers 3,000 square metres and hosts every operation required to create our products, from lava-stone processing to the strictly hand-executed decoration of tables, interior accessories, urban furnishings, garden furniture, and our demountable masonry-effect kitchens.
Artesole also promotes the innovative cultural and experiential tourism project "Le Vie della Lava". For more information, visit www.leviedellalava.com
A book on the history of ceramicised lava stone
The story and invention of ceramicised lava stone began in the 1980s in Giarre, on the slopes of Mount Etna. A fascinating journey through art, fire, and tradition.
Institutional Visit of the Regional Assessor - tourism, sport and entertainment - Dr. Elvira Amata -
at the Artesole Atelier in Giarre.
For the presentation of the innovative tourist/cultural project of the "Le Vie della Lava" Association
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Institutional Visit of the Regional Assessor - Tourism, Sport and Entertainment - Dr. Elvira Amata - at the Artesole Atelier in Giarre.
Regional Assessor Dr. Elvira Amata admires the hand-decorated lava stone Sicily by our skilled decorators.
Institutional visit at Artesole Atelier where she admires one of our hand-decorated tables.
In the decoration sector where our decorators hand-paint works commissioned by our clients.
Institutional Visit of Regional Assessor Dr. Elvira Amata at Artesole Atelier.
The Mayor of Giarre Dr. Leo Cantarella places our lava stone Sicily on his desk at the Giarre town hall.
The welcome visit of the highly esteemed Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi to the Artesole atelier in Macchia di Giarre which transforms Mount Etna's lava into works of art
Thanks to the citizens of Giarre and their mayor, Leo Cantarella, for this solemn encomium.
As Goethe said, "Italy, without Sicily, leaves no image in the spirit. It is in Sicily that the key to everything is to be found. [...] The purity of the contours, the softness of everything, the yielding interchangeability of the colors, the harmonious unity of the sky with the sea and the sea with the land. [...] Whoever has seen them even once will possess them for a lifetime."
Vittorio Sgarbi - Facebook
Tuesday 4 October 2022
The Mayor of Giarre Dr. Leo Cantarella presents Prof. Sgarbi with a lava stone plaque depicting Sicily, made by Artesole Atelier.
Professor Sgarbi with the Mayor of Giarre Dr. Cantarella, former city councilor Orazio Maccarrone, Dr. Antonella Santonoceto, at ARTESOLE Atelier.
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi and Giuseppe Sorbello make a toast with lava stone cups produced in our Atelier.
Professor Sgarbi seated at one of our tables, appreciating the drawings of Sicilian Paladins depicted on it.
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi with Giuseppe Sorbello ARTESOLE in Macchia di Giarre, appreciating the lava stone table with hand-decorated Sicilian Paladins.
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi asks about the technical characteristics of ceramicised lava stone, including its resistance, durability, and stain resistance.
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi tastes a delicious wine in one of our lava stone glasses with ceramic interior.
Giuseppe Sorbello gifts Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi a pair of lava stone cups with tray made in our Atelier, which he greatly appreciated.
Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi asks about our lava stone creations coming from our raw material, Etna's lava.
Maestra Lucia Cardillo welcomes Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi at the Artesole Atelier in Macchia di Giarre
Letter of thanks from the President of the United States of America George W. Bush
The monumental table with the coat of arms - including the eagle - created by Giuseppe Sorbello from Giarre for the President of the United States George Bush, is still kept in the White House today.
Awards
George W. Bush Letter
Awards
Sigonella table delivery
Awards
White House Table
Awards
La Sicilia Artesole article
Awards
Gazzettino White House table
Capo d'Orlando Kermesse
BTE - Non-hotel tourism exchange
The mayor of Giarre, Dr. LEO CANTARELLA, welcomes foreign operators and buyers visiting Giarre at - THE ARTESOLE ATELIER - A company selected by the SICILY REGION, the ETNA LAVA STONE DISTRICT, and CONFESERCENTI SICILY, to view the company's production process, in order to propose its excellent and unique products, made in our territory.
The goal of the Kermesse organized by the Sicily Region together with Confesercenti Sicily is to make foreign operators aware of the potential of the Giarre and Sicilian territory, towards which the international market has shown growing interest in line with the constant search for companies capable of offering unique and authentic products.
Lucia Cardillo
A great and very significant moment for our Giarre, which through the Artesole Atelier attracts many tourists who remain enthusiastic about the precious works of the masters of art Giuseppe and Gianvito Sorbello and of the entire truly professional staff.
BTE Exhibition
Sector Magazines
Prizes and Awards
Oscar Craftsmanship 2018
Oscar Awards
Livatino Award 2
Livatino Award
Giuseppe Sorbello Livatino Award
Giara d'Argento Award
Sicilia Arte Award
Sicilia Arte Award 2017
Plaque honouring Giuseppe Sorbello at the sixth edition of Lidi in Passerella, 18 August 2007
Our History between Giarre and Acireale
Some of the works created by the Sorbello family over generations.
1908: The Origins
Post published on the Facebook page:
“Il gioco di Giarre” (to discover and promote the history and places of interest of Giarre.)
Today, March 14, 2023, marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of a great man and a great master builder who contributed with his work to the growth of Giarre.
Vito Sorbello was born in Macchia di Giarre on March 14, 1908. As a young boy, he collaborated in the building activity of his maternal uncles (Mariano and Giuseppe Parisi of Macchia). In 1926, he was drafted into the navy and spent 26 months in the military powder keg of Taranto Buffoluto, attached to the military bomb disposal branch. In his spare time during the draft, he enrolled in a course as a master bricklayer (at the Scuole Riunite correspondence institute in Rome), graduated, and also obtained a further diploma as a specialist in reinforced concrete.
At the age of 20, having finished his military obligation, he worked in Giarre, first on the facade of the lawyer Quattrocchi in Via Callipoli 134 (1931) and then on that of Antonino Rapisarda in Corso Italia 173 (1932).
In 1934, at the invitation of engineer Patanè of Macchia, who had appreciated his technical and human qualities, he moved to the Messina area where he directed the works for the restructuring and construction of the parish and bell tower of the mother church of Alì Superiore, and then from 1937 he directed the construction of the cathedral of Milazzo, an activity that would occupy him for three years. After eight years away, he returned to Giarre and in 1942 he supervised the facade of the building of the Patanè brothers, merchants in Giarre, in Via Callipoli 46.
After the end of the Second World War, in 1947, he worked on the construction of the building in Via Finocchiaro Aprile 2 (designed by Ing. Camillo Bosco). From 1954 to 1960 he emigrated to Venezuela, later repatriating due to political and economic upheavals in that nation.
Returning to Giarre, he collaborated with the Bonaccorso brothers of Macchia (known as the cement workers), building various private homes including that of engineer Panebianco in Corso Italia 120 (1963). He continued to work actively until the 1990s (over 80 years of age).
In 2008, he celebrated his 100th birthday still fully lucid and present to himself, and for the occasion the Municipality of Giarre celebrated him in the Romeo room of the Palazzo delle Culture and gave him a commemorative plaque. He died the following year, on January 6, 2009.
During his long life, he had four children, Maria, Salvatore, Giuseppe, and Giovanni.
Today, part of his artistic legacy is in the hands of his son Giuseppe Sorbello, founder, with his grandson Gianvito together with the designer Michele Maugeri, of the Artesole company in Giarre. Lava stone, worked by him in its raw form during his activity as a builder, becomes an artwork magnified by this Giarrese excellence in Italy and globally.
Quattrocchi Palace, Giarre
Former Rapisarda House, Giarre
Giarre Palace Vito Sorbello
Municipality of Giarre to Vito Sorbello
Eastern Sicily: A Golden Treasure Chest
by Franca Dell’Arciprete on: www.viaggivacanze.info
... Another remarkable local product is lava stone, an entirely eco-friendly material which, once glazed, becomes stain-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and extremely durable.
In Giarre, Artesole, part of the Etna Lava Stone District, has been creating bespoke furnishings in decorated lava stone for more than 30 years, for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Using the material offered by Mount Etna, which to many appears grey, shapeless, and soulless, Artesole creates works of art.
And on the strength of ceramicised lava stone, extraordinary decorations shine in a thousand colours, inspired by Sicilian legends.
“CORRIERE DELLA SERA – July 7, 2023”
Design with Artesole lava and Radicepura plants. by Luca Bergamin.
Giarre is also a town of lava and gardens. Lava not only forms the paving of many streets, but has also been transformed into objects of art and design thanks to the ingenuity and technical skill of Giuseppe Sorbello, who in his laboratory and workshop has turned the volcano's once-unwanted by-products into precious materials for design objects, even kitchens, creating the Artesole brand.
LUXURY prêt à porter Magazine
Franca Scotti
Video
Discovering a magical place – Among the excellences of the Etna territory
30 German tourists visiting Giarre to discover a treasure...
Experiential cultural and tourist path on the transformation of Etna lava into works of Art
Artesole Video on Radio Universal TV
Processing Video at the Artesole factory
Interview on Radio News 24
Historian and writer Salvatore Maugeri and Prof. Nellina Ardizzone presented the Artesole history book, written by Salvatore Maugeri, on June 8, 2019, at the agriturismo “La Pietra Antica O'Munti”. The book retraces the history of the Artesole company, from its earliest experiments in ceramicising lava stone to its present-day role as an innovative leader in furnishings, including masonry kitchens, tables, garden furniture, flooring, claddings, and high-end fashion jewellery.
Talk by geologist Dr. Alfio Grassi, President of the Etna Lava Stone Consortium. During the presentation of the Artesole history book, he discusses the Etna-area lava-stone supply chain and the many kinds of processing involved, including the ceramicising of lava surfaces. He focuses in particular on the story of Artesole in Giarre, a leading company that transforms lava into true works of art such as kitchens, tables, garden furniture, and claddings, while remaining at the forefront of innovative lava materials for indoor and outdoor furnishings. More recently, the company has also launched a high-end fashion jewellery line.
Presentation of the ARTESOLE history book written by Prof. Salvatore Maugeri at the Michele Amari Higher Education Institute (Classical High School) in Giarre on May 24, 2019
Thesis on the Artesole company by student Mara Di Benedetto "Class 5A Classical High School M. Amari of Giarre"
Presentation of the book telling the story of the Artesole Art factory. Title: "Artesole – The dream factory – From tradition to innovation – An adventure in an ancient world looking to the future"
Giuseppe Sorbello of the ARTESOLE Art Factory received the prestigious “Craftsmanship Oscar 2018” award – www.artesole.it