Thrilled to Pieces

It’s the classic lemons-into-lemonade story. In this case, it’s about once-beautiful, now-shattered ceramics cemented into artsy one-of-a-kind mosaic furniture.

When Coturra, the trendy Los Angeles importer of beautiful and fragile Maiolica ceramics, found itself after the 1994 Northridge earthquake with 40% of its expensive inventory in shards, the owners knew that throwing it all out was not the answer.

“But believe me, we thought about it,” says Jim Zimmerman, who, along with partners Michael Ruvo and Christopher Smith, have made the company the largest importer of traditional Italian Renaissance-style Maiolica in the U.S.

He says the partners couldn’t stomach returning to their bashed-up stores in Century City, the Beverly Center and their stuffed Silver Lake warehouse but had “some beautiful friends” who were smart enough to sweep the remnants of ceramics into boxes and seal them for a later date “when we could bare looking at the mess.” They also wisely knew they might need damage to show government officials to qualify for earthquake assistance. (Their Newport Beach store had minimal damage.)

Two years later, when they finally did look inside the boxes, instead of devastation they saw the promise of art.

“We opened these boxes and all went, ‘Oh, cool, these pieces are beautiful. I wonder if there’s anything we can do with them,’ ” explains Zimmerman. And luckily, they had resisted the many requests for the shards from artists.

They soon decided mosaic work was the way to go. Several Los Angeles mosaic artists now turn the boxes of colorful, broken pieces into unique mirrors and tables that bear an imprint of “survival,” Zimmerman says. The deep blues, rich reds, golds, greens and glazed whites of the traditional, hand-painted pots and dinnerware now make a new art form for the Maiolica. The mirrors sell for $500 to $750; the tables, for $4,800.

“A lot of people love the look of the mirrors, but when they find out the history of them, it makes the sale,” Zimmerman says. “Making something beautiful out of something horrible is always a healing art.”

As for the future, he says he’s rigged up a system of cords and cardboard lip to allow his pottery to rattle but, he is very hopeful, not fall.