Ceramic Antipasto Serving Set with Fruit

In Italy we call this a cena fredda — literally a "cold dinner" set. It's designed for those summer evenings when you lay out olives, cheeses, salumi, marinated vegetables, and whatever else you have. The set has a large oval tray, six wedge-shaped compartment dishes that fit inside it like slices of a pie, and an oval bowl in the centre for a dip or sauce.

Every piece is painted by hand in our Masa pattern — lemons, red apples, grapes, and green leaves on a background of warm yellow and deep blue. The outer rim of the large tray is yellow with a fruit garland, and each of the smaller compartments picks up the same motifs so the whole set looks unified when assembled. You can also use the pieces separately — the individual dishes work fine on their own for nuts, candies, or appetisers.

Our artisans in Vietri sul Mare make these in small batches. The ceramic is thick and sturdy, the glazes are food-safe, and the colours stay bright wash after wash. It's a substantial piece that fills a table and makes a real impression when guests sit down.

Because each part is painted individually, you'll notice slight differences in the brushwork from dish to dish. When they're all assembled, those little variations give the set a warm, collected-over-time feeling rather than a factory-produced uniformity.