Sfusato Amalfitano Lemon Bowl

Found in Béziers, this Italian lemon bowl is a small piece of the Amalfi Coast in ceramic form. A plain white bowl is ringed by two stacked rows of hand-modeled lemons, every one glazed in the bright sun-yellow of a Sfusato Amalfitano, the long fragrant lemon that has grown on the cliffs above the Mediterranean since the Romans. Italian sculptural fruit bowls like this came up through the mid-20th century, every lemon shaped by hand and pressed against the next; what looks like a row of fruit at first glance is really a single piece of clay, modeled all together and fired in one. Sylvie sets it on the dining table piled with real lemons or limes, the kind of bowl that decides on its own what it's going to be that day.