Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Cariddi, Seminara Ceramic Mask

About the Item

In Greek mythology, the name CARIDDI (Charybdis in English) belonged to a monster that lived in the sea between Calabria and Sicily and destroyed ships by swallowing them up and spitting them back out, generating dangerous whirlpools in the water. This myth is reinterpreted in the form of a mask, which inverts the traditional convex surface to create a concave volume inspired by the underwater world. The mask invites the gaze into the blue depths of its smooth interior, where an uncanny protrusion emerges in the shape of a nose, a signature motif in Giovanni De Francesco’s artistic production. Each nose-island is different from the others; every mask has a unique beauty accentuated by imperfections, smudges, and uncontrollable colors, invoking the unpredictability of fear. This perception overturns the ferocious symbolism of the legendary monster, rewriting CARIDDI as a welcoming narrative. The artist’s explorations of fear, danger, and the unknown become particularly poignant when placed in the recent historical context of Calabria and the Mediterranean Sea. In the exceptional conditions of the present moment, when hundreds of millions of people are spending more time at home than ever before in living memory, the homeware brand TRAME wants to share the inspiring and supportive influences of these Mediterranean ritual objects with the entire world. The masks, whether the traditional forms or the contemporary design interpretations, reveal a sense of both timelessness and contemporaneity in their aspirational evocation of a social life with more serenity and less fear. Details: - Dimension: approximately 28 H x 22 W x 8 D cm - Material: 100% Mediterranean terracotta clay - Technique: 100% handmade in Italy - Each handcrafted CARIDDI Seminara mask is unique. Picture on an indicative basis. - 14-days return policy - In stock Giovanni De Francesco (Bergamo 1976), lives and works between Milan and Paris. He is a visual artist dedicated to sculptural installations through the use of plastic materials, photography, video, painting and sound. Since 1997 he has taken part in many personal exhibits as well as collective ones. He an artistic consultant at the Luisa delle Piane gallery in Milan and is a founding member of the Monstera theatre company. He occasionally collaborates with Andre Branzi and is an honorary member of the Onlus Atelier dell’Errore.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 11.03 in (28 cm)Width: 8.67 in (22 cm)Depth: 3.15 in (8 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    2020
  • Production Type:
    New & Custom(One of a Kind)
  • Estimated Production Time:
    Available Now
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Paris, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5328221915352
More From This SellerView All
  • Traditional, Seminara Ceramic Mask
    Located in Paris, FR
    Ditto potters with Antonio Bonamico. The ceramic masks of Seminara are ostentatious and grotesque, with deliberately frightening features to scare away ...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

  • MISTO, Seminara Ceramic Mask
    Located in Paris, FR
    MISTO invites itself into your interior to ward off spells, evil spirits and evil influences. Sophie Dries reinvents the traditional Calabrian mask with her contemporary graphic li...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

  • Misto, Seminara Ceramic Mask, Blue
    Located in Paris, FR
    MISTO invites itself into your interior to ward off spells, evil spirits and evil influences. Sophie Dries reinvents the traditional Calabrian mask with her contemporary graphic li...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

  • 100 FEARS, Seminara Ceramic Mask
    By Objects of Common Interest
    Located in Paris, FR
    The traditional masks of the Calabrian town of Seminara are intended to chase away evil from the home, dispel fears and gossip with their exaggerated and grotesque features. The mask...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

  • TA RA TA TA, Seminara Ceramic Mask
    Located in Paris, FR
    The apotropaic (warding off evil) mask from Seminara can be distinguished by its horns, wide eyes, mustache, and screaming mouth with its tongue sticking out. The masks are finished in enormous wood fired kilns, which adds an uncontrollable twist to the features and colors rendered by the artisan’s hands—the final touch in their fierce and imperfect beauty. The demonic aspect of this mask is manifested in order to be expelled, bringing serenity to the owner and ridding the home of negative energy. Giovanni De Francesco takes an idiosyncratic approach to the traditional mask, aiming not for verisimilitude but for a rough impression of the volumes of the face. Using sculptural gestures to shape the clay, he accentuates the fundamental geometry and makes the shapes more grotesque. Incense can also be placed within TA RA TA TA’s ceramic jaws for ritual burning. This function alludes to a specific variation of the typical mask in in the form of a chimneypot: with smoke pouring out of its mouth and eyes, the mask would appear much more ferocious—and thus even more powerful. Details: - Dimension: approximately 32 H x 25 W x 10 D cm - Material: 100% Mediterranean terracotta clay - Technique: 100% handmade in Italy - Each handcrafted TA RA TA TA Seminara mask is unique. Picture on an indicative basis. - 14-days return policy - In stock Giovanni De Francesco (Bergamo 1976), lives and works between Milan and Paris. He is a visual artist dedicated to sculptural installations through the use of plastic materials, photography, video, painting and sound. Since 1997 he has taken part in many personal exhibits as well as collective ones. He an artistic consultant at the Luisa delle Piane gallery in Milan and is a founding member of the Monstera theatre company. He occasionally collaborates with Andre Branzi...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

  • MISTO, Seminara Ceramic Mask, Green, Sophie Dries
    Located in Paris, FR
    MISTO invites itself into your interior to ward off spells, evil spirits and evil influences. Sophie Dries reinvents the traditional Calabrian mask with her contemporary graphic li...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic

You May Also Like
  • Ceramic Comedy and Tragedy Masks
    Located in New York, NY
    Whimsical handmade pottery Comedy and Tragedy wall mount masks, in deep cobalt blue and creamy off white glaze. Probably studio made circa 1960/1970...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Masks

    Materials

    Ceramic, Pottery

  • Pende-Style Antelope Mask
    Located in Chicago, IL
    Masks from the Pende people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are considered some of the most dramatic works of African art. The Pende have defined an extensive range of mask forms, many with distinct characters embodied during ritual ceremony. Colored by red and white pigments, this Pende mask...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Congolese Tribal Masks

    Materials

    Wood

  • Fang-Style African Painted Mask
    Located in Chicago, IL
    Light masks like these represented the spirit of an ancestor and were used for social control by Ngil, the judiciary association. The facial markings, abstract features and strong, e...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Gabonese Tribal Wall-mounted Sculptures

    Materials

    Wood

  • Bidjogo Tribal Initiation Ox Mask, c. 1900
    Located in Chicago, IL
    After oxen were introduced to Guinea Bissau by Portuguese sailors in the 15th century, its strength, aggression, and nobility quickly became integrated i...
    Category

    Early 20th Century Guinea-Bissauan Tribal Masks

    Materials

    Hide, Wood

  • Collection of Handmade Mexican Folk Art Masks
    Located in Atlanta, GA
    Collection of Handmade Mexican Folk Art Tin Masks, Mexican, circa 1950s. Each mask is unique and extremely detailed. The largest mask measures 21"...
    Category

    Vintage 1950s Mexican Folk Art Masks

    Materials

    Copper, Tin

  • Set of Six Vintage French Three Dimensional Masks
    Located in Stamford, CT
    Very animated face masks from the 1940s. Three dimensional.
    Category

    Vintage 1940s French Wall-mounted Sculptures

    Materials

    Composition

Recently Viewed

View All