Trimmone

Trimmone – Everything comes from a vase

The trimmone is a large ceramic vase, with a very small base, to contain food (especially wine) and can be considered the progenitor of the glass demijohn. Also used to store vinegar and oil, sometimes, in the smaller forms, you could even drink them directly. The fact of having a very small base made this vase particularly unstable, at risk of falling even with a gust of wind. Many of you will know that in the Bari dialect the word “trimone” is a vulgar dialect term to indicate a particularly stupid person (mainly male). In particular, a widespread saying is “you’re a trimone in the wind” (literally you’re someone who talks nonsense). These expressions derive precisely from the trimmone vase and from the poor ability of this ancient container to resist the wind without tipping over.
Regardless of the dialectal epithet, the trimmon is a precious work and, especially in its white enamelled version, now very rare. At Corte Manfredi it is possible to admire some very rare examples of ancient white enamelled trimmons dating back to 1800.