Handicrafts

Pottery, tapestries, fabrics, knives, small baskets coral and jewellery are amongst the main products which characterize the island’s handicrafts; handicrafts which are unique and timeless.

The main items are hand made bowls, vases, plates, mirrors and lamps decorated with gold and polychrome enamels.  There are also traditional brooches, amphora and ‘la gallinella’ (the hen), namely a bowl which reproduces the figure of a hen.

The hen is a recurring figure in Sardinian artistic creations; more or less stylized, it can especially be found on the tapestries that were used in former times to cover the “cassapanche di legno”(wooden chests) where the wedding linen was kept.

Even today in some inland towns the women work with antique hand looms making carpets, tapestries and cloth dyed with herbs and decorated with traditional geometrical and floral designs. The towns of Mogoro, Isili and Samugheo are famous for these types of creations.

The art of weaving reaches the highest standards in Oliena, with the creation of the most precious and esteemed shawls of traditional costumes.

The small town of Bosa is known for the exclusive filet, or precious embroidered laces.  The most original is the fabric made from cork oak, obtained by cutting the bark from the oak tree in sheets which are stuck onto supports of viscose, silk and cotton.

Another ancient Sardinian tradition is that of the leppa, a really sharp knife made by pressing 450 fine wires of steel which is attached to a handle of moufflon, ram or deer horns and carved by hand.  The most famous knives are those from Pattada.

The home of coral is definitely the West Coast, particularly Alghero.  In the Catalan Old Town there are many craftsmens’ studios which process and sell coral jewellery.

La fede sarda is another traditional gold ring in filigree work.  Gold filigree was always used to create valuable jewellery like brooches and costume buttons.  Nowadays, various goldsmiths are offering new creations embellished in filigree work which recall the traditional designs.