Pieces of majolica from the Grazia Factory in Deruta, Italy, are displayed at Gail Jeter's home in Columbia. On April 28, majolica collector and a close friend of Ubaldo Grazia's, Gail Jeter, hosted a collection of Grazia's majolica pieces in her home in downtown Columbia.

While commonly overlooked and under appreciated, the history of ceramics is one that is so vital to the development of civilization and man. Archaeologists use the existence of pottery chards to identify advanced cultures from primitive ones. It has even been suggested and researched that clay may have been a catalyst for life allowing fatty acids to assemble and develop into the first living cells. In Genesis of the Bible, it says, "And the Lord God formed man of dust of the ground."

An example of the development of ceramics is that of the Grazia family that dates back more than 500 years. The Grazia Factory, located in Deruta, Italy, has produced some of the most highly prized ceramics in Italy for hundreds of years. The ceramics were originally collected by royalty and purchased by pilgrims visiting Saint Francis' tomb in Assisi.

The production of ceramics in the area began because of the need for utilitarian pieces like bowls, cups, and water jugs. Because the clay and colorants were found locally, the early pieces were restricted to simple colors such as brown and green. Through extensive trading networks, new materials were brought into Deruta, and majolica began to be produced.

Majolica is the technical name for ceramics that have been fired, covered in glaze, and then sprayed with a liquid glaze before a final firing. In Grazia's factory more than 30 professional artists hired from a local university are enrolled as apprentices under one of the two ceramic masters.

The production of majolica begins with the raw clay from local quarries that is thrown on a potter's wheel or pressed into molds. The clay is allowed to dry before the now "greenware" is fired to 1,922 degrees Fahrenheit turning the fragile clay into durable "bisqueware."

The pieces are then decorated by the professional artist using the glazes (metal oxides) before they are sprayed with a liquid glass and fired for a second time. Hours are spent in the perfection of each piece of art to ensure that quality is maintained.

While the majority of the Grazia work is decorated in the same way it has been for hundreds of years, the factory has begun to produce more modern and contemporary work. The Grazia family began exporting its artwork as far back as the 1920s. The artwork produced today is sold worldwide with more than ninety percent of the production coming to America to such stores as Saks Fifth Avenue, Williams- Sonoma, and Bergdorf Goodman.