HOW MOD WAS BORN, THE STORY OF THE FOUNDERS DELIA AND ANTONIO 

Antonio and Delia have been living and working together for almost 70 years. They met in a ceramics factory when they were around 18. Antonio was young but had risen to supervise about 70 painters in the ‘decoration’ department, one of whom was Delia. So began their incredible love story. Now 86 and 85, Antonio and Delia married in 1955. Son Ivan was born in 1957 and Delia left the factory to work at home, but soon founded her own small company called “Ceramiche Delia” In 1963 daughter Grazia was born; Delia painted for the ARS Artigiana factory where her husband was supervisor, and did work for some private customers as well. In 1970 Antonio left the factory and with his wife founded their company. Ceramiche Delia became Maioliche Originale Deruta MOD) – their first location was a garage on the ground floor of the house where they were living.

Working 12, 14 hours a day, their first months were immediately successful, with customers from the Amalfi Coast ordering thousands of pieces. More workers were hired, and Ivan, then 14 went to school in the morning and worked for the company in the afternoon. A year later Antonio fell seriously ill and for a time it seemed as though he might not survive. Delia and Ivan spent their life going back and forth between the hospital and the garage, where they worked unceasingly to fill orders. After many surgeries, Antonio fully recovered and in 1979 the family bought an old building and moved the business to its current location on Via Tiberina in Deruta.

Ivan eventually became fully involved in the factory which now employed 15 people. The market at this point was mostly Italian – tourist shops in the Amalfi Coast, Liguria, Elba and some wholesale stores in the Veneto, Lazio, Tuscany and Piemonte. Grazia, now 16 was not interested in joining the family business, but at 21 she became pregnant and married. Her husband worked in the company. She had two children. At 26 she went back to university and at the age of 30, upon completion of her studies, she wrote a book on Deruta Ceramics of the 20th Century. In 1996, after divorcing , she returned to the family business, replacing her husband and helping her brother. Gradually the sales moved from the domestic market to an international market, with the U.S. absorbing more than 70% of sales. Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Horchow are among the customers.

Today, Antonio comes to the factory every day, Delia stopped just last year, but now prepares lunch every day for the whole family. Ivan continues to work 10 12 hours a day following suppliers and production, Grazia follows the sales and the new collections and grandchildren Giacomo and Selene are gradually experiencing of how to run a business.