Vintage Italian Ceramic Table Lamp by Aldo Londi for Bitossi (circa 1960s)

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About the Item

Mid-Century Italian ceramic table lamp by Aldo Londi for Bitossi (circa 1960s). The lamp presents a lustrous glaze with a central band decorated in yellow circles with blue outer rings over a delightful magenta-hued backdrop of the body. Londi’s pieces were inspired by a variety of historical and modern sources. Often, his ceramic ranges carried no maker’s mark yet may have other telltale signs such as the production sticker with model number affixed to the underside base. As with all Italian pottery of the period, there are no hard-and-fast rules for marks used by Bitossi. Some pieces are totally unmarked, while others are simply impressed or painted ‘ITALY’, denoting that they were made for export. It is essential to consider the shape, glaze, clay and form when trying to attribute a piece to Bitossi. Their system was extremely complex and is still being recorded and decoded by the company’s archive division (ref: ‘Alla Moda – Italian Ceramics of the 1950s-70s’, by Mark Hill). This piece is in very good overall condition. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying this listing. Upon request a video will be provided. The lampshade is not included. The piece is currently wired for UK use however, it is easily modified for your location with an adapter or a change of plug fitting.

About the Artist: Aldo Londi (1911-2003), nicknamed chiodo (nail), did not come from a family of potters, but showed an early aptitude for working with clay. He apprenticed at Fratelli Fanciullacci aged 11. Within a few years he had gained enough skill to work on his own and began to study decorating. His development was interrupted by military service. In 1940 he was captured by the Allies and imprisoned in South Africa. He remained there for five years, during which time he learnt English and set up a small kiln and rudimentary pottery. His brother-in-law, Marcello Bitossi, encouraged him to join the Bitossi factory. His talents became evident almost immediately, and the family appointed him artistic director, a position that he maintained for three decades until his retirement in 1976 (ref: ‘Alla Moda – Italian Ceramics of the 1950s-70s’, by Mark Hill).

Dimensions:
H 34 cm / 13.4″ (to the top of ceramic)
Dia 27 cm / 10.6″Creator: Bitossi (Workshop/Studio)Dimensions: Height: 13.39 in (34 cm)Diameter: 10.63 in (27 cm)Power Source: Plug-inLampshade: Not IncludedMaterials and Techniques: CeramicPlace of Origin: ItalyPeriod: 1960-1969Date of Manufacture: circa 1960sCondition: GoodSeller Location: London, GBReference Number: Seller: 23781stDibs: LU2811342705372Shop All Bitossi

Bitossi

Like a Fellini movie, the ceramics of the famed Italian company Bitossi Ceramiche embody a creative spectrum that ranges from the playful and earthy to the high-minded and provocative. Based in Florence, Bitossi draws on craft traditions that date back to the 1500s. These find expression in Bitossi pottery that includes artisanal vintage vases and animal figures by the firms longtime art director Aldo Londi, as well as the colorful, totemic vessels designed by the high priest of postmodernism, Ettore Sottsass.

Bitossi was incorporated by Guido Bitossi in 1921, though the family began making art pottery in the mid-19th century. In the 1930s, Londi came aboard, bringing with him a mindset that respected time-honored craft, yet looked also to the future. On the one hand, Londis perspective fostered the making of Bitossis popular whimsical cats, owls, horses and other animal figures, hand-shaped and -carved and finished in a rich azure glaze known as Rimini Blue.

But with his other hand, Londi reached out to thoughtful, experimental designers such as Sottsass. After hiring Sottsass to design ceramics for his New York imports company,Raymor, American entrepreneur Irving Richards connected the Milanese design polymath to Londi, who introduced Sottsass to ceramics in the 1950s.

During that decade, some 20 years before he founded the Memphis postmodern design collective in Milan, Sottsass used the Bitossi kilns to create timeless works that manifest both primitive forms and modern geometries. In later decades, Bitossi would welcome new generations of designers, which have included such names as Ginevra Bocini and Karim Rashid.

While always looking forward, Bitossi is firm in their belief that mastery of craft is the first step towards beautiful design. As you will see from the works offered on these pages, that is a winning philosophy.

Find a collection of vintage Bitossi decorative objects, lighting and serveware on 1stDibs.