Tableware design

The countless everyday objects produced by Ginori in the early centuries of its activity are examples of ‘anonymous design’. The authorship of the shapes and decorations of tureens, inkwells, tiles, and baking dishes is unknown and is directly attributed to the factory’s modelers and decorators, who created them following their own flair and, more often, drawing inspiration from silverware models, printed catalogs, and the most popular Chinese or European products.

The first table service whose design author is known and whose sketches have even survived is the Neo-Egyptian style service created around 1872 by Gaetano Lodi for the Khedive of Egypt Ismail Pasha, followed around 1896 by the tea service by Alessandro Morani for Baron Alberto Blanc (1835–1904), former Minister of Foreign Affairs and diplomat of the Kingdom of Italy.  

Apart from these rare specimens made for private commissions, one must wait until the 1920s and the artistic direction of Gio Ponti (1891-1979) to be able to attribute a designer's name to series objects such as tiles, tableware, and all other products published in the Ceramiche moderne d’arte catalogs of the period. Among the porcelain sets designed by the Milanese architect, the Barbara and Campania forms stand out for their essential lines, defined by the volumes of the sphere and truncated cone.

Hexagonal, sturdy, and super compact is instead Exagon, designed for bars, hotels, and tea rooms, as the Italian answer to the Cube teapot of the English shipping companies, probably never put into production.

The Silvana set, with a cylindrical shape and rounded edges, attributed in “Domus” to Alfred Brown, is instead one of the bestsellers of the thirties and forties.

Giovanni Gariboldi (1908-1971) provided designs for the ceramics of the Richard-Ginori group during the four central decades of the last century, from 1930 to 1970, interpreting diverse stylistic trends. Among other works, he is responsible for the evocative globular forms Laura, Clelia, and Luisa, swollen and light like hot-air balloons, dating to around 1936, as well as the refined Donatella and Ulpia sets presented at the 1954 Milan Triennial.

The same year also saw the prototype of the ‘in column’ service, one of the first stackable sets designed in Europe, awarded the Compasso d’Oro for its perfect balance of minimal space requirements and functionality. Perhaps too rigorous and ahead of its time, it may not have been fully appreciated at the time of its debut but found wide popularity in the version launched in 1966. Following in the footsteps of Colonna are the subsequent Uno più Uno and Eco (1969), the latter characterized by a double wall that ensures thermal insulation and allows for the omission of handles.

A great success for Richard-Ginori in the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies was the Paola dinnerware set, first produced in Mondovì and later in Laveno. The design of the shape, with its soft and casual lines, is perhaps attributed to Cesare Lacca, who created one of the earliest patterns for this set, featuring views of houses in Capri. Subsequently, the Paola shape was mainly paired with vibrant floral decorations, ideal also for seaside and country homes or for more informal everyday use. 

With the acquisition of Società Ceramica Italiana di Laveno in 1965, Antonia Campi (1921-2019) also contributed to Richard-Ginori tableware by designing the successful Margherita and Paiolo patterns, entirely coated with colored glazes. The Giano service is the result of Campi's work on simplifying profiles and the versatility of certain elements, which can alternatively be used as lids or containers.  

A recognized milestone in the history of design specifically intended for catering and hospitality is the project by Joe Colombo, Ambrogio Pozzi, and Ignazia Favata for the first class of the airline Alitalia. The service, called Linea ‘72, is exemplary for the elegance achieved by balancing functional needs and formal rigor. 

In 1989, Richard-Ginori commissioned nine internationally renowned design studios to create as many projects for new porcelain pieces. Of these, only the Nuvola set by Sergio Asti (1926-1921) and the Odissea by Marco Albini, Franca Helg, and Antonio Piva were produced at that time. Of the others, such as the projects by Aldo Rossi and Angelo Mangiarotti (1921-2012), the original prototypes remain at the Museo Ginori, a reserve of ideas and solutions from which Richard-Ginori has sometimes drawn even years later. 

• Nove progetti per Richard Ginori, curated by L. Massoni, Firenze 1990
• M. Meli, La ceramica monregalese nel ‘900: tra arte e industria, in La ceramica monregalese nel ‘900. Dalla ‘Vecchia Mondovì’ ai giorni nostri, curated by M. Meli, M. Guiddo, L. Melegati, Terzo d’Acqui (Alessandria) 2008, pp. 46, 142-143
• A. Pansera, Antonia Campi. Creatività, forma e funzione. Catalogo ragionato, Cinisello Balsamo (Milano) 2008
• G. Cavagna di Gualdana, Gariboldi, Mantova 2010
• Gio Ponti. La collezione del Museo Richard-Ginori, curated by L. Frescobaldi Malenchini, M. T. Giovannini and O. Rucellai, Firenze 2019
• O. Rucellai, Cesare Lacca autore di un decoro per un servizio in terraglia di Mondovì, “Quaderni-Amici di Doccia”, XI, 2018, pp. 94-100.  
• Mirabile industria. La società ceramica Richard-Ginori dal 1896 al 1972, exhibition catalogue (Mondovì, Museo della Ceramica 21 maggio-03 ottobre 2021) curated by O. Rucellai, A. d’Agliano, C. Fissore, Pistoia 2021, pp. 174-193
• D. Turrini, Richard-Ginori. L’avanguardia del servizio da tavola, in Mirabile industria, cit., pp. 82-91