The production of ceramic advertising items or more generally decorated with the logos of hotels, restaurants, bars, and establishments of all kinds is very common in the history of the Doccia Manufactory. Several white porcelain plaques with examples of decalcomania decorations for commissioned supplies are preserved at the Ginori Museum.
Plates like this one, on which various examples of logos (from hotels and bars, but also from liquor companies, such as the steam distillery “Protti e Menini” from Bologna) are applied, served as sample boards for internal use or to show to clients. Each decoration was catalogued in a numerical inventory, the number of which is indicated alongside the logo on the plate. The logos were applied to porcelain tableware using decalcomanias, that is, decorations printed on paper by impression from chromolithographic stones or engraved metal plates. The reproductions thus obtained were sprinkled with collodion to create a film that, separated from the paper support, preserved the decoration applied to the porcelain intact.
During firing, the collodion, burning away, released the decoration, which penetrated beneath the crystalline coating of the piece. This process produced uniform decorations and better quality results in rendering the fine details of the various logos, which were difficult to achieve with hand painting. Moreover, this technique allowed for serial and standardized production, significantly impacting cost containment.
