Our History
We began back in 1976, when Piero Chiacchella started working for one of the most important national brick producers. From the very beginning, he was fascinated by the world of clay and while he worked he undertook research into the potentiality of this material, specialising in the hand-made sector. He continuously experimented with new production techniques.
Putting his impressive expertise into practice, in 1994 he founded Fornace Cotto Antico, in Acquapendente, Viterbo, located on the border between Umbria and Tuscany. It was here he specialised in hand-made Tuscan terracotta tiles (cotto rosso toscano). The company grew and in 2004 it was infused with the new energy of Eleonora, his daughter, who decided to take the reins of the family tradition, specialising in scientific research.
Eleonora began by learning the processes of making, then firing, the tiles. On her first day of work, her father stated, “To lead a company into the future, it is important that you are able to work at every level of the production”. Today Eleonora runs this successful company thanks to the experience she has gathered, just as her father did before her. She has also brought to the company her passion for experimentation and her quest to create new products – such as glazes and crystalline, and black and grey bucchero.
Our Work
What makes our products special is the traditional techniques we use to make them. Our tiles are made of the same materials that have been used to create flooring for generations. This means that our tiles exude the same warm atmosphere which is so characteristic of Italian homes.
We have broadened our range of products by marrying tradition with innovation, introducing enamelled cotto – which are perfect for walls and floors in kitchens and bathrooms.
Our greatest inspiration is the naturalness with which water and clary combine into a single material, a material which not only withstands time and extreme weather but has minimum of impact on the environment.
It is important to note that poor quality flooring may appear to be cheaper; however, it can end up costing more money than you think.
We are driven by a passion to keep the culture of our region alive and have produced our tiles for important cultural buildings such as the former monastery of San Francesco del Monte. It’s this passion that fires up our furnaces every morning and pushes us to get our hands dirty with earth.
