Go to main content Go to footer

Artistic maiolica

The nineteenth-century passion for Italian Renaissance art also manifests itself in ceramics with the revival of the famous sixteenth-century maiolica.

The leadership of the Manifattura Ginori in this field is due to its chemist Giusto Giusti, who was awarded a prize at the 1855 Paris Universal Exposition for being the first to rediscover the recipe for the legendary metallic lustre.

From that moment, the production of Ginori artistic maiolica rapidly evolved, moving from faithful imitations of past masterpieces to eclectic reinterpretations, the original contribution of artists such as the painters Giuseppe Benassai and Giovanni Muzzioli and the sculptor Urbano Lucchesi.

Urbano Lucchesi, Vaso a raffaellesche con teste di Bacco a rilievo

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Raffaellesque Vase with Relief Heads of Bacchus

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Leaf-shaped seat with capuchin monkey

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Garden seat with curtains and tassels

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Vase with pierced wing handles

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Vase with snake handles and decoration in "Botticelli Style"

Giovanni Muzzioli, Vaso con satiro e decoro a raffaellesche

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Vase with satyr and Raphael-style decoration

Angelo Marabini, Piatto raffigurante Apollo e Saffo

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Plate Depicting Apollo and Sappho

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Plate depicting Madonna with Child

,

The plate is entirely decorated with the depiction of a forest with tall trees

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Plate with a pair of deer in a forest

,

Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Plate with figurative decoration and musical instruments

Show other

Overall view of the centerpiece.

Gio Ponti

The years in which Richard-Ginori was directed by Gio Ponti were one of the most artistically successful periods in its history.

The ceramics he designed starting in 1923 constitute a very important part of the Museo Ginori collection. Comprising more than four hundred works, the Ponti collection includes both small mass-produced objects and masterpieces that have never been replicated, such as the large vase La Conversazione classica and the imposing centerpiece for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Irony, elegance, and a brilliant reinvention of the antiquity are some of the ingredients that made Ponti’s production an international success and an excellent example of Art Deco taste.

White plate with green leaves and two orange fruits

Ceramic tableware

Highly sought-after creations with an exotic taste, small sculptural groups made specifically to accompany desserts, services that have become true icons of an era and design prototypes: from the eighteenth century through the entire twentieth century, the Manifattura Ginori wrote some of the most significant chapters in the history of tableware art.

The extraordinary collection of table objects of the Museo Ginori tells us about both the creation of the shapes and decorations that identifed the style of the manufactory for centuries and the ability to rethink the form and function of objects to adapt them to the progressive changes in taste and the clients’ needs.

Useful

“Useful” products, such as everyday tableware, have been the true source of profit for the Manifattura Ginori since its origins.

From the second half of the nineteenth century, with the proliferation of ceramic applications in the industrial field, a significant portion of Ginori’s - and later Richard-Ginori’s – production consisted of insulators for telegraphs, components for the silk industry, and laboratory porcelain.

Ultimately, it was street signs, tiles, baking dishes, and pharmacy jars that marked the definitive entry of the Manifattura Ginori into the daily life of all Italians.

Newsletter

Subscribe to the newsletter to receive updates about the museum, its projects, and its activities.