STAMPERIA BERTOZZI

From 1920, the Bertozzi family dedicated their workshop to traditional hand printing. As proud artisans, they employ the ancient technique of hand-carving stamps from blocks of pear wood. Using these stamps, they print onto a variety of materials from traditional ones – cotton, linen and wool – to newer ones including porcelain, leather and cashmere. They extended their expertise into hand painting, a skill they have developed over the years using a variety of tools and techniques.

Today, there are 20 people working at Stamperia Bertozzi. Five are members of the family, including Gigi, the grandson of Luigi the founding artisan, Gigi’s wife Angela, and two sisters. As a third-generation stampatore (printer), Gigi prints and supervises the works of the craftspeople. Everything is produced with the meticulous care that only ancient handcrafted tradition can deliver. And though they maintain traditional techniques, they also embrace contemporary styling in their designs – creating a wonderful marriage of the two.

As a solar-powered company, Stamperia Bertozzi have a strong focus on environmentally friendly production process. For example, they use natural colours and a unique, selfdeveloped steaming process for fixing colours onto fabrics.

A traditional rust colour is one of their trademarks. They create this using a recipe they have kept secret from generation to generation. It is based on powdered rust, vinegar and flour – thought no one else knows quite how it is done. Stamperia Bertozzi derive other colours from natural plants. The most significant of these is indigo, which was used in ancient times in the Romagna region by extracting the colour from a plant called Isatis tinctoria. Other colours sourced from natural plants include their huge range of reds, yellows and purples. And they derive newer colours through research and development using environmentally sustainable processes.

For their designs, they take inspiration from their vast historical archive, as well as the natural beauty around them – the sea, the flowers and colours of the landscape in their beautiful region of Romagna.