First-Class Service for Alitalia

In the second half of the twentieth century, Richard-Ginori’s collaboration with leading figures of Italian and international design yielded results of remarkable interest. Among these is the first-class onboard service called Linea ‘72, designed by Joe Colombo and Ambrogio Pozzi, with the collaboration of Ignazia Favata, for the Italian flagship airline Alitalia. 

The service, made of high-fired porcelain to ensure greater durability of the pieces, is characterized by an unusual design that combined practicality, stability, resistance, and compactness in a small space. Perfectly stackable and combinable, the tableware stands out for its simple shapes and the cut edges of the plates, which reduce bulk while maintaining two side handles for grip. This detail, besides becoming a decorative element, was functional for nesting the various pieces both in the service trays and in the cabin cupboard shelves. A purely functional element is the circular protrusion at the center of the smallest saucer, which fits into the recess on the bottom of plates of the same type and the cups, thereby ensuring their stability. 

The first-class service for Alitalia won the gold medal from the President of the Republic at the 31st International Contemporary Art Ceramics Competition in Faenza in 1973, in the category of use and functional products.