Illustrated plate taken from "Tariff for Majolica and Porcelain Signs for directions and house numbering"

From as early as the second half of the nineteenth century, the Ginori manufactory of Doccia had begun producing economical blue-printed ceramics dedicated to various daily activities, for commercial establishments and domestic life. In the same years as the 1861 Florence National Exhibition, the factory produced all types of porcelain, including signs for street names and house numbers, with the first examples beginning to appear on city streets. 

The manufactory also offered plaques in more economical maiolica variants, round or rectangular in shape, with rounded or square corners, decorated with a simple double blue border and toponymy written in block letters. The products could be ordered in various sizes and dimensions. This type of street sign, with its clear and legible appearance, was very popular in Sesto Fiorentino, as well as in Florence and many other locations throughout Tuscany and across the national territory.