Pear-shaped vase with wavy leaf relief

Emblematic of Gariboldi's typical ability to enhance the quality of porcelain by working with barely perceptible thicknesses, which in this case seem to dress the object like a fabric, the vase is decorated with a light relief, resembling a shell or a scalloped and delicately undulating leaf that wraps around its ovoid body, reaching up to the base of the neck.

A specimen of the same model (mod. 1887s) was presented by Richard-Ginori at the 7th Milan Triennale in 1940, where Giovanni Gariboldi was awarded the diploma of honor. On this occasion, Gio Ponti, in Domus, dedicated an extensive article to Richard-Ginori’s art porcelains, in which this vase also appears. 

However, the porcelains presented by Richard-Ginori at the 7th Triennale did not escape the criticism of a sharp observer like Roberto Papini, who did not find them sufficiently innovative: “Let us not say that these efforts to bring porcelain back to the levels of preciousness to which it is entitled are not commendable: however, they lack boldness, they bear the mark of a refined salon worldliness tinged with fear that weakens attempts in their early stages [...]”. 

The Ginori Museum preserves other variants, both monochrome and bicolor, like this one (invv. 3339, 3340, 3341, 3342).