Natalie Sytner is the founder of Bettina Ceramica, an artisanal store celebrating and showcasing the tradition of Italian ceramics. Curating a refined edit of contemporary and classical objects for the modern home, she sources every piece for its craftsmanship and story, often collaborating with artists, artisans and factories with generations of familial experience and heritage. Inspired by her travels of Italy, her childhood memories of Liguria, and, most of all, her Ligurian mother, Bettina, Natalie’s enamour of the art form is unsurprising – ceramics are artefacts of human memories immortalised in clay.
01 I WAS INITIALLY DRAWN TO CERAMICS BECAUSE
I love that with handmade ceramics, no two are ever the same. Traditional Italian ceramics are particularly special to me because they are full of emotional value and heirlooms to be passed down through generations.
*Pictured here: Horsewoman lamp base, via Bettina Ceramica.
02 WORKING WITH LOCAL ARTISANS IS IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE
of the very personal relationships I now have with generation-old factories and their owners, often the grandchildren of the original makers. We're often sharing sketches and ideas late at night on Whatsapp.
03 THE TECHNIQUE OR PROCESS I FIND THE MOST REWARDING IS
going through the design archives of my artisans, some of them hundreds of years old, and together re-thinking pieces for the modern home.
04 SOMEWHERE THAT DRAWS ME BACK IS
Camogli: a small fishing town in Liguria, very close to where my mother was born. She spent her childhood and teenage weekends there and I spent my holidays there growing up. Taking my daughter there last summer was very special. We recreated an old photo in the pool: my dad holding me and then holding Gia at the same age.
*Pictured here: Camogli, photographed by Natalie.
05 FIVE PLACES YOU MUST VISIT IN LIGURIA ARE
The Clarence Bicknell museum in Bordighera. The Botanical Gardens Hanbury in Ventimiglia. Cenobio dei Dogi hotel, followed by a hike or boat visit to the Fruttuoso Abbey in Camogli. Bagni Fiore beach in Portofino.
06 THE BEST OBJECTS I'VE PICKED UP ON MY TRAVEL ARE
Religious artefacts and ceramics for my mother and mother-in-law at the Lungomare market (from special stalls owned by Nonnas) in Bordighera, where my father lives.
*Pictured here: the Lungomare market, photographed by Natalie.
07 MY MOST TREASURED SUMMER MEMORY
Holidays. Watching my mother get ready for dinner, sitting on the terrace, watching her drinking a Campari and thinking she was the most glamorous woman in the world.
08 I AM INSPIRED BY THE INTERIORS OF
Every interior shot posted by Antonio Monfreda.
*Pictured here: One of Antonio's pictures.
NATALIE'S FAVOURITE THINGS
01 The work of textile artist Maddalena Zadra via Atelier LK.
02 The work of visual artist Luigi Ghirri.
03 The "Non-conformist" hoops in gold vermeil.
04 Trattoria Brutto in Farringdon.
*The Cantabrian anchovies are heavenly.
05 Anything from Spazio Leone in Hackney.