OUR PRODUCTS ARE INTENDED FOR REFINED AND EDUCATED CUSTOMERS, WHO KNOW HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF THESE OBJECTS AND KNOW HOW TO LOVE THEM AS THOSE WHO WANTED AND CREATED THESE COLLECTIONS WITH DURABILITY AND DEDICATION.
Made in Sicily processing
On the slopes of Etna, the Artesole Art Factory,
transforms the red-hot Lava into true design!
In Giarre, “Il Sole 24 Ore” identifies one of Sicily’s excellences!
We are proud to announce that Artesole has been recognized by the prestigious newspaper “Il Sole 24 Ore” as one of the excellences of Sicily! Our company, based in Giarre, has been praised for its mastery in working with glazed lava stone and for artistic creations that combine tradition and innovation. Each of our works is designed to be unique and tailor-made, blending art and daily functionality.
Revolutionizing ceramics, the art that perfectly integrates into daily functionality
Artesole: mastery and design in the production of glazed lava surfaces
A company that combines artistic tradition and innovative tailor-made creations for unique works
Artesole has deep roots dating back to the first experiments with glazed lava stone in the 1980s. The innovative initiative took shape in 2013 when Giuseppe Sorbello, the company’s founder, along with his son Gianvito, head of production, kilns, stone cutting, lava stone glazing, and partner Michele Maugeri, head of design, carpentry, and customer relations, embarked on a unique path in the field of glazing Etna’s lava stone.
The art applied to the glazing of lava stone
Artesole stands out in the ceramics processing panorama thanks to a deeply artistic and innovative approach, so much so that it can be defined as a true creative atelier. Unlike traditional ceramic productions, the company has experimented with a unique fusion between watercolor painting and the glazing of lava stone, transforming a complex technique into an original artistic language. Master Sorbello, starting from watercolor painting, acquired new skills in the field of ceramics. A technical challenge became an opportunity to experiment with ceramic products and the infinite world of chromatic effects they offer when applied to lava stone, creating unique works in the panorama of the architectural and design world. From this innovation was born Artesole’s style, which combines visual art and functionality of these unique products, blending aesthetics and utility. The challenge was to maintain the delicacy and lightness of watercolor, transferring it onto a surface as resistant as it is versatile. This led to the creation of hand-decorated kitchen tops, garden tables, removable masonry-effect kitchens, bathroom furnishings, barbecues, and much more, elevating glazed lava stone to an authentic expression of contemporary art that makes Artesole a unique reality and an excellence in the sector.
Luxury products and customization
Artesole stands out for the production of high-quality lava stone coverings, designed for luxurious environments. The company has focused on the luxury sector, collaborating with prestigious architects and designers, offering them tailor-made solutions for bathroom furnishings, kitchens, tables, barbecues, interior and exterior furnishing elements, coverings, and flooring. Each product is made according to the specific needs of the client, like a suit tailored by a tailor. This customization is a continuous challenge, as the market is constantly evolving and requires solutions that large companies cannot always provide. Artesole has invested significantly in innovative machinery and tools that allow giving unique shapes and colors to lava stone. Thanks to advanced techniques like crystallization, it produces glass-based ceramic surfaces that offer unparalleled chromatic effects. The firings take place at temperatures that reach almost 1000 degrees, a process that transforms the lava stone and creates deep color shades. These distinctive characteristics make it a material highly sought after by architects and designers worldwide, who seek visual and tactile effects impossible to achieve with other materials.
A dual approach: classic and modern
Artesole adopts a bilateral approach in its production line, keeping tradition alive through manual glazing while introducing significant innovations in modern design. The classic line is represented by decorations executed strictly by hand by a team of eight master decorators, many of whom come from art institutes and art high schools. On the other hand, the modern line is characterized by innovative techniques that use crystalline glazes and reactive oxides to achieve surprising visual effects. The ability to combine tradition and modernity represents an added value, attracting the interest of increasingly demanding clients. Artesole differs from traditional ceramic companies not only for the quality of its products but also for the philosophy that guides it. The company has chosen to distance itself from the traditional concept of the ceramist, embracing a more artistic, contemporary, and experimental vision. This revolutionary approach not only allows exploring new creative paths but also stimulates technological innovation through cutting-edge machinery for working lava stone. Thanks to this synergy between art and technology, it is possible to transform a natural material like lava stone into unique products where aesthetics and functionality coexist harmoniously. This perfect combination makes glazed lava surfaces not only beautiful to look at but also practical and durable, ideal for creating innovative furnishing elements and coverings for interior and exterior spaces.
A cohesive and competent team
The factory, located in Giarre, measures 3,000 square meters, and within it, all the operations necessary for the creation of the artifacts are carried out, starting from the processing of lava stone to the strictly manual decoration of tables, interior and exterior furnishing elements, urban furnishing, garden furnishing, up to the construction of removable masonry-effect kitchens and furnishing elements in the luxury yacht shipbuilding sector. The company currently has a team of 20 people, each with a specific role. Production employs expert specialized craftsmen in different sectors, who work together to create personalized and unique products. This working environment has fostered the creation of a family atmosphere, where everyone believes in the same vision. The various sectors the company relies on are: design office and customer management, lava stone processing and cutting sector, glazing and kilns sector, decoration sector, graphics sector, screen printing and photo-ceramics sector, carpentry sector.
Towards the future: flexibility and innovation
Artesole is committed to maintaining corporate flexibility that adapts to the needs of a continuously evolving market. The company is investing in cutting-edge technologies, such as CNC numerical control machines and waterjets, to respond to increasingly specific and demanding requests. These advances not only improve production but also allow exploring new creative possibilities. Particular attention goes to the new collection that the atelier will soon present, dedicated to the innovative production of lava stone plates for gourmet dishes. These plates, with shapes and colors customized upon request by renowned chefs, are not only unique works of art for their beauty but also offer superior performance: they maintain the temperature of the dishes constant and prevent heat from dissipating quickly, unlike normal ceramic plates. This combination of aesthetics and functionality makes each creation not only a refined object but also an ideal support for haute cuisine. In a sector where few companies are able to offer high-quality products, Artesole stands out for its ability to offer tailor-made solutions; it is not just a ceramic producer but a laboratory of ideas where art applied to lava stone becomes a unique form of expression, capable of enriching every environment with elegance and originality.
“Il Sole 24 Ore” – October 22, 2024 – Year 160°, Number 292
Between Art and Crafts
With the material that the volcano Etna offers, ARTESOLE loves to transform into works of art, what appears to many a shapeless and soulless gray matter.
This is the thought of the owners who have been able to create their work in complete freedom. In the management of their company, the executive staff formed by Giuseppe, Gianvito and Michele shares their passion for their work every day. The selection of the raw material and its transformation into furnishing solutions that ARTESOLE offers to its customers is the result of the presence of creative imagination which makes each item unique unique..
Design and refinement: the leitmotiv that characterizes each complement chosen for sale.
Lava stone to give strength and color, Wood, to give warmth. Iron, to give resistance. Ceramics, to give elegance.
For this reason, in each product it is possible to find beauty in the shapes and in the decorations, technology in the combination of materials and nature in the materials themselves. Each article expresses a lifestyle, the owners say talking about their products. So not only design and technology products, but also a valid collaboration service for its customers, in order to grow together.
ARTESOLE has been operating for over forty years on the national territory and international. She conducts her business with professionalism and seriousness and this has guaranteed her a satisfied and aware clientele. In fact, customers follow the sales proposal as they know they find refinement and avant-garde in the products purchased.
In the products it produces, harmony and innovation cannot be missing: characteristics that are inseparable in order to confer validity to the goods and quality to the service.
Management Group
Gianvito Sorbello
– Founding member –
Responsible for blast furnace and lava stone enamelling
Giuseppe Sorbello
– Administrator –
Founder of the Artesole brand
(Marketing Manager)
Michele Maugeri
– Founding Partner, Interior Designer –
Head of design, carpentry and customer relations
Artesole management team:
Michele – Chiara – Santa – Filippo – Giuseppe – Gianvito
Historical photo of Artesole staff
The ARTESOLE SRL company is an integral part of the Etna Lava Stone District and the Etna Lava Stone Consortium.
The Etna Lava Stone is a great resource of the Ionian Etna area that offers great employment opportunities especially in the ceramic-coated lava stone processing sector, of which the company Artesole di Giarre is the leader and leader in the sector.
The District therefore has the main objective of promoting and making this precious and unique product known worldwide. ceramic-coated lava stone or majolica hand-painted by expert local craftsmen and to give success to the entire sector by taking on the task of transmitting our artistic culture that has millenary traditions.
ARTESOLE S.R.L. is the only company in Europe to autonomously realize the entire production cycle of all our products.
Leader in the sector:
ARTESOLE stands out for having invested over time in innovative machinery and Maestranze which allow the company to independently carry out the entire production cycle, taking charge of each processing sector in a unique way and in step with technology.
This distinctive feature is synonymous with the quality of the manufactured product.
Our factory in Giarre measures 3,000 square meters and all the operations necessary for the creation of the products are carried out inside it, starting from the processing of lava stone, to the strictly manual decoration of tables, objects for interior furnishings, urban furniture, garden furniture, up to the construction of our removable masonry effect kitchens.
Book: The Story “The Dream Factory” (Only Italian version)
From tradition to innovation. An adventure in an ancient world looking to the future
About us
The welcome visit of the very illustrious Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi to the Artesole atelier in Macchia di Giarre who transforms the lava of Etna into works of art
Thanks to the citizens of Giarre and their mayor, Leo Cantarella, for this solemn commendation.
As Goethe said, “Italy, without Sicily, leaves no image in the spirit. It is in Sicily that the key to everything is found. […] The purity of the contours, the softness of everything, the yielding exchange of colors, the harmonious unity of the sky with the sea and the sea with the earth. […] Whoever has seen them only once will possess them for life. “
Vittorio Sgarbi – Facebook
Tuesday 4th October 2022
The Mayor of Giarre Dr. Leo Cantarella gives Prof. Sgarbi a lava stone plaque depicting Sicily, made by the Atelier Artesole
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi with the Mayor of Giarre Dr. Cantarella, the former city councilor Orazio Maccarrone, Dr. Antonella Santonoceto, in the ARTESOLE Atelier
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi and Giuseppe Sorbello toast with the lava stone cups produced in our Atelier
Professor Sgarbi, seated at one of our tables, appreciates the drawings of the Sicilian paladins depicted in it
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi with Giuseppe Sorbello ARTESOLE in Macchia di Giarre, appreciates the lava stone table with the hand-decorated decorations of Sicilian paladins
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi asks for explanations on the technical characteristics of the ceramic-coated lava stone, with respect to resistance, durability and stain resistance.
Professor Vittorio Sgarbi tastes a delicious wine in one of our lava stone glasses with ceramic interior.
Giuseppe Sorbello gives Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi a pair of lava stone cups with tray made in our Atelier and much appreciated by him.
Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi asks for explanations on our lava stone creations from our raw material, the lava of Etna
Teacher Lucia Cardillo welcomes Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi at the Atelier Artesole in Macchia di Giarre
Video
Video Artesole s.r.l. – Atelier
Video Artesole on Radio Universal TV
Video Processing at the Artesole factory
The historical writer Salvatore Maugeri and Prof. Nellina Ardizzone 8 June 2019 at the farmhouse “La pietra antica o munti” present the Artesole history book written by Salvatore Maugeri. The book tells the story of the Artesole company from its birth with the first experiments on the ceramicization of lava stone, establishing itself today as a leading company at the forefront in the furniture sector “Masonry kitchens, tables, garden furniture, floors, coverings and fashion jewelry high quality”.
Conference President of the Etna Lava Stone Consortium Dr. Geologist Alfio Grassi. On the occasion of the presentation of the story-book “Artesole”, he talks about the “La Pietra Lavica nel District Etneo” supply chain of the various processes and productions including the ceramization of lava surfaces, focusing in particular on the history of the leading company Artesole di Giarre which transforms the washes in real works of art, such as kitchens, tables, garden furniture and coatings, placing itself at the forefront in the production of innovative lava materials for interior and exterior furnishings. Recently it has introduced a new production line in the high quality fashion jewelery / costume jewelery sector.
Presentation of the book of the history of ARTESOLE written by Prof. Salvatore Maugeri at the Michele Amari Giarre Higher Education Institute (Liceo Classico) on 24 May 2019
Thesis on the Artesole company of the pupil Mara Di Benedetto “5th A Liceo Classico M. Amari di Giarre”
Presentation of the book narrating the history 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 – ARTESOLE Art Factory – was awarded the prestigious “Oscar of Handicraft 2018” – www.artesole.it