Two Pairs of Italian Maiolica Baskets, circa 1780

Maiolica sugar bowl Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, Circa 1770-1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). It measures 3.54 x 4.52 x 3.54 in (9 x 11,5 x 9 cm) Weight: 0.394 lb (0.179 kg) State of conservation: small and slight chips on the edges. The small sugar bowl has a swollen and ribbed body resting on a flat base. The cap-shaped lid follows the rib of the container and is topped with a small knob in the shape of a two-colored fruit. The sugar bowl is painted “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire) with the characteristic floral motif of bunches and isolated semis. An example which closely corresponds to this one is kept at the Civic Museum in Lodi (G. Gregorietti, Maioliche di Lodi, Milano e Pavia, Catalogo della Mostra, Milano, 1964 n. 137). This decorative style 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 later introduced by Antonio Ferretti to Italy. The 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 started their maiolica manufacturing business in Lodi in 1725. The forefather Simpliciano started the business by purchasing an ancient furnace in 1725 and, indeed, we have evidence of the full activity of the furnaces starting from April of the same year (Novasconi-Ferrari-Corvi, 1964, p. 26 n. 4). Simpliciano 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, was able to 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, both with or without contour lines, as well as in purple or green monochrome. After efforts to introduce more industrial production techniques to the sector succeeded, even the Ferretti manufacture, in the last decade of the eighteenth century, started heading towards decline despite its attempts to adapt production to neoclassical tastes. In 1796 the Napoleonic battle for the conquest of the Lodi bridge over the Adda definitively compromised the furnaces. Production resumed, albeit in a rather stunted manner, until Antonio's death on 29 December 1810. (M. L. Gelmini, pp. 28-30, 38, 43 sgg., 130-136 (for Simpliciano); pp. 31 sgg., 45-47, 142-192 (for Antonio). Bibliography G. Gregorietti, Maioliche di Lodi Milano e Pavia Catalogo della Mostra, Milano, 1964 n. 137; C. Baroni, Storia delle ceramiche nel Lodigiano, in Archivio storico per la città e i comuni del circondario e della diocesi di Lodi, XXXIV (1915), pp. 118, 124, 142; XXXV (1916), pp. 5-8; C. Baroni, La maiolica antica di Lodi, in Archivio storico lombardo, LVIII (1931), pp. 453-455; L. Ciboldi, La maiolica lodigiana, in Archivio storico lodigiano, LXXX (1953), pp. 25 sgg.; S. Levy, Maioliche settecentesche lombarde e venete, Milano 1962, pp. 17 sgg.; A. Novasconi - S. Ferrari - S. Corvi, La ceramica lodigiana, Lodi 1964, ad Indicem; Maioliche di Lodi, Milano e Pavia (catal.), Milano 1964, p. 17; O. Ferrari - G. Scavizzi, Maioliche italiane del Seicento e del Settecento, Milano 1965, pp. 26 sgg.; G. C. Sciolla, Lodi. Museo civico, Bologna 1977, pp. 69-85 passim; G. Lise, La ceramica a Lodi, Lodi 1981; M. Vitali, in Storia dell'arte ceramica...

Pair of maiolica tureens Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). a – 8.66 x 11.02 x 7.48 in (22 x 28 x 19...

Maiolica puerperal cup Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, Circa 1770 - 1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). It measures: 4.3 x 6.8 x 5.3 in (11 x 17,5 x 13,5 cm) Weight: 0.78 lb (358 g) State of conservation: some closed pass-through fêlures on the cup, barely visible on the outside. Some use chips on the edge of the lid, two of which are more marked. From about the mid-sixteenth century, the puerperal soup tureen or puerperal cup became one of the most popular wedding gifts in central Italy. As an auspicious symbol, it replaced the birth table (“desco da parto”) which, on the occasion of high-ranking marriages, from the thirteenth century, had been painted by famous artists, especially in Tuscany. In France this same tureen is called "écuelle de mariée", as it is given to spouses as a sign of fertility. During the eighteenth century this custom spread even outside Italy to all social levels. Depending on availability and rank, it was made of different materials: precious metals, maiolica, porcelain, glass, pewter, etc. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, the custom of this symbolic homage gradually disappeared, although famous designers such as Gio Ponti and Giuseppe Gariboldi, even as recently as the 1940s, revisited a model of a small puerperal soup bowl for the Ginori and, also in Italy in 1940, in a national competition for young potters, one of the themes of the test was indeed a modern model of a puerperal cup as an auspicious gift. This particular cup was also called a "service cup" or "puerperal vase" or "stuffed cup" - the windows were sealed with straw to prevent drafts of air for women in labor. In the eighteenth century the line of the puerpera cup was simplified, so much so that it took the form of a small tureen with two handles - the typical broth cup...

Maiolica pitcher Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). It measures 8.66 x 8.66 x 4.33 in (22 x 22 x 11 ...

Maiolica tureen Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). It measures 9.05 x 12.59 x 9.05 in (23 x 32 x 23 cm) ...

Two maiolica flower pots Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, Circa 1770 - 1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire) The...

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Fabulous Italian hand painted figural bowl and tray by Fidia. These big eyed girls are in the style of Fantoni. Bound in leather on the back these are gre...