Fantoni Decorative Objects

Rare set of six decorated and gilded ceramic plates designed by Piero Fornasetti. This collection was specially created by the Fornasetti Atelier...

Bold and so colourful large mid-century ceramic plate by DeSimone, Italy Hand painted Yin and Yang stylised fish dominate this entire piece Circa 1960's Signed DeSimone, Italy Height...

This set of two bowls contains the largest model of the AXK bowl and a ARO bowl, both manufactured in the 1950s at Rörstrand, designed by Gunnar Nylund. The ...

Marcello Fantoni early cubist vase, Italy 1950s Fully signed

Delightful small hexagonal ceramic plate by DeSimone of Italy Creatively decorated with a hand painted woman in a grape hat and edged with a sea green stippled rim Circa 1960's Signe...

Majolica dish hand made and hand-painted in Deruta, Italy, according to the original Renaissance painting technique. The dish is enriched by the presence of four metamorphic dolphin-...

Set of 5 decorative plates designed by Gio Ponti for Ceramica Franco Pozzi. Fair condition: visible signs of wear, discolorations and some chipping. A restoration is recommended. Label maker...

Midcentury green ceramic plate / centerpiece. Giuseppe Mazzotti, Albisola, Italy, 1950s. Signed under the base "M.G.A” Measure: 3.5 heigh...

Many are the different types of glass created by master makers on the Venetian island of Murano. From air-thin vases to expressive sculptures, also massive objects with deep and vivi...

Very large squared ceramic plate, hand painted abstract decor in green, yellow, red and black Signed Guido Gambone and donkey Mark, circa 1950-1960 About Guido Gambone Guido Ga...

Italian artist Marcello Fantoni cylindrical ceramic bottle vase is glazed stoneware made circa 1960s. This piece was acquired directly from the artist by the seller, who was a person...

Two pairs of maiolica baskets Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1790 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). Measures: A) Height 3.54 x 6.69 x 9.84 in (9 x 17 x 25 cm); B) Height 3.93 x 7.48 x 11.02 in (10 x 19 x 28 cm). Total weight 4.85 lb (2.200 kg) State of conservation: A) One of the smaller baskets has some areas of restoration, the other slight chipping from use; B) One of the larger baskets is intact and the other shows a clearly glued break. The mold with which the baskets were forged simulates a wicker weave. The two larger works have high, vertical walls, with branch-shaped handles penetrating the weave. The painted decorations, small polychrome flowers applied only externally, highlight the points where the weaves intersect. The decision to leave the center of the basket devoid of decoration is highly unusual, but given the size and complexity of the shape, as well as the quality of the enamel, it is possible to hypothesize that it represents a precise choice in manufacturing or for a particular client. The two smaller baskets have small, twisted handles and, on the outside, reproduce more decisively the characteristic wicker weave, obtained through thin molded lines. The interior exhibits a rich, typical decoration of naturalistic flowers: a bunch centered around a main flower and secondary stems accompanied by small “semis”. The exterior of these works is also adorned with small little flowers where the weaves intersect. The size and morphological characteristics of the baskets confirm their attribution to the Lodi factory of Antonio Ferretti between 1770 and 1790, during its most successful period; by this point his original reworking of the "Strasbourg" decoration, known as "old Lodi", had achieved great fame even outside Italy. This decorative choice represented a strong point of the Lodi factory, which established itself thanks to the vivid nature of the colors made possible by the introduction of a new technique perfected by Paul Hannong in Strasbourg and which Antonio Ferretti introduced in Italy. This production process, called “piccolo fuoco” (third fire), allowed the use of a greater number of colors than in the past; in particular, the purple of Cassius, a red made from gold chloride, was introduced. Its use allowed for many more tones and shades, from pink to purple. The Ferretti family had started their maiolica manufacturing business in Lodi in 1725. The forefather Simpliciano had started the business by purchasing an ancient furnace in 1725 and, indeed, we have evidence of the full activity of the furnaces from April of the same year (Novasconi-Ferrari-Corvi, 1964, p. 26 n. 4). Simpliciano had started a production of excellence also thanks to the ownership of clay quarries in Stradella, not far from Pavia. The production was so successful that in 1726 a decree of the Turin Chamber came to prohibit the importation of foreign ceramics, especially from Lodi, to protect internal production (G. Lise, La ceramica a Lodi, Lodi 1981, p. 59). In its initial stages, the manufacture produced maolicas painted with the “a gran fuoco” (double fire) technique, often in turquoise monochrome, with ornamentation derived from compositional modules in vogue in Rouen in France. This was also thanks to the collaboration of painters like Giorgio Giacinto Rossetti, who placed his name on the best specimens next to the initials of the factory. In 1748 Simpliciano made his will (Gelmini, 1995, p. 30) appointing his son Giuseppe Antonio (known as Antonio) as universal heir. After 1750, when Simpliciano passed away, Antonio was directly involved in the maiolica factory, increasing its fortunes and achieving a reputation on a European level. Particularly important was the aforementioned introduction in 1760 of the innovative “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire) processing, which, expanding the ornamental repertoire with Saxon-inspired floral themes, could commercially compete with the German porcelains that had one of its most renowned offerings in the naturalistic Deutsche Blumen. Antonio Ferretti understood and promoted this technique and this decoration, proposing it in a fresher and more corrective version, less linked to botanical tables...