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Doccia porcelain, now usually called Richard-Ginori (or Ginori 1735; previously know as the Doccia porcelain manufactory), at Doccia, a frazione of Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, was in theory founded in 1735 by marchese Carlo Ginori near his villa, though it does not appear to have produced wares for sale until 1746. [2] It has remained among the most important Italian porcelain factories ever since.
In its first decades it was unusual in producing, alongside the usual tablewares and vases, etc, porcelain versions of statuettes and small sculptures, intended as bronzes, by Florentine sculptors of several decades earlier. After the death of its founder in 1757 the factory concentrated on producing more conventional wares, often borrowing styles from larger factories in Germany and France.
Following its merger with Società Richard of Milan in the late 1800s, the company was renamed Richard-Ginori srl.. By 2013 it was in bankruptcy and was subsequently acquired by Gucci. [3] [4] It now uses "Ginori 1735" as its brand.
Its early wares were of a soft-paste porcelain, as were most European porcelains with some exceptions, notably Meissen, where deposits of kaolin had been discovered and hard-paste porcelain was made. Vezzi porcelain in Venice had also made hard-paste with Saxon kaolin, but had closed in 1727. By around 1750 Doccia were making hard-paste. [5]
Ginori established the kilns at the foot of forested Monte Morello, whose timber fuelled them, and initiated experiments with local potting clays. He engaged J.K.W. Anreiter from Vienna to head the painting workshop [6] and in 1737 a local sculptor, Gaspero Bruschi, as the chief modeller. Bruschi stayed at the factory until his death in 1780. [7] Production began in 1737. By 1740 Ginori was confident enough of his products to send samples to Vienna and get a privilege for porcelain manufacture in the Austrian-ruled Grand Duchy of Tuscany, giving him the security of a monopoly.
Ginori obtained wax models and casts from the heirs of major Florentine baroque sculptors Giovanni Battista Foggini and Massimiliano Soldani that were intended for casting in bronze, [8] and produced boldly-scaled porcelain figure groups “of a grandeur which makes the figures of most other C18 factories look petite and trifling,” John Fleming and Hugh Honour have observed. [9] Some statuettes of famous Roman sculptures were also produced. Over 150 sculptural pieces were produced. [1]
The early Doccia paste is gritty in texture and slightly grayish; its glaze less glossy than most contemporaneous European porcelains. Innovative decorating techniques from the 1740s [10] were transfer-printing and the stampino, or stenciled decor, usually of blue on the white ground; since these could be employed by inexperienced workers, decorated porcelain was brought within reach of the middle classes, and porcelain rapidly replaced traditional maiolica in common use.
Ginori's manufacture was continued without a break by his three sons, who introduced a new, whiter body, with tin oxide [11] added to the glaze for increased whiteness, but were less successful in adapting neoclassical forms to the wares. With the revival of rococo styles in the nineteenth century, the Doccia manufactory reverted to its eighteenth-century models.
The manufacture remained in the hands of the Ginori heirs until 1896, when it was incorporated with the Società Ceramica Richard of Milan, a larger manufacturer of ceramics, as Richard-Ginori. [12] Gio Ponti served as artistic director of the manufacture from 1923 to 1930, producing many designs in the Art Deco manner, and was succeeded by Giovanni Gariboldi, 1930–1970. [13] Gariboldi won a Compasso d'Oro for his designs in 1954. [14]
In 1950 the factory moved to a new building two miles away from the old site.
The firm was declared bankrupt in January 2013. A deadline of May 2013 was set by the court to find a new buyer, hopefully one which would continue to maintain historic quality standards, operate the existing plant, employ its local workforce. Lenox, the American firm, and Apulum, a Romanian china manufacturer, showed interest and made joint bids. [3] That effort proved unsuccessful and the firm was again put up for sale and in April, 2013 acquired by Gucci for €13 million, $16.8 million. Gucci's plans were to improve the factory in Florence, concentrate on high-end products, and sell products under its name in luxury markets such as China. [4]
The Museo Richard Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia was opened in 1965 in a new purpose-built building near the factory. The collection had previously been housed in the eighteenth-century factory building. The museum and its collection was not included in the sale of the company to Gucci in 2013, and closed to visitors in 2014. In 2017 the Italian government agreed to buy it, with the sale completed in 2018. By then the building and parts of the collection (especially the unique collection of wax models) had suffered from lack of maintenance, and as of 2019 the museum remains closed to the public while restoration and conservation work continues. [15] [16]
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as figurines, and products in technology and industry such as electrical insulators and laboratory ware.
Soft-paste porcelain is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either its high firing temperatures or special mineral ingredients. There are many types, using a range of materials. The material originated in the attempts by many European potters to replicate hard-paste Chinese export porcelain, especially in the 18th century, and the best versions match hard-paste in whiteness and translucency, but not in strength. But the look and feel of the material can be highly attractive, and it can take painted decoration very well.
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and brought this type of porcelain to the market, financed by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. The production of porcelain in the royal factory at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish, arguably, the most famous porcelain manufacturer known throughout the world. Its signature logo, the crossed swords, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production; the mark of the swords is reportedly one of the oldest trademarks in existence.
Sesto Fiorentino, known locally as just Sesto, is a commune in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central Italy.
Massimiliano Soldani or Massimiliano Soldani Benzi was an Italian baroque sculptor and medallist, mainly active in Florence. Born at Montevarchi, the son of a Tuscan cavalry captain, Soldani was employed by the Medici for his entire career.
Capodimonte porcelain is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory, which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most significant factory for early Italian porcelain, the Doccia porcelain of Florence being the other main Italian factory. Capodimonte is most famous for its moulded figurines.
Marchese Carlo Ginori (1702–1757), Italian politician (Tuscany) and founder of the Doccia porcelain factory in Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, Italy. He pioneered the development of porcelain production, contemporary with Meissen, in mid-eighteenth-century Europe. Ginori's porcelain was collected by Medicis and most of the nobility of Europe. Napoleon's wife, Marie Louise of Austria, ordered an enormous service set that survives to this day.
Chantilly porcelain is French soft-paste porcelain produced between 1730 and 1800 by the manufactory of Chantilly in Oise, France. The wares are usually divided into three periods, 1730–1751, 1751–1760, and a gradual decline from 1760 to 1800.
Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain is a French soft-paste porcelain from the manufactory established under the patronage of Louis-François-Anne de Neufville, duc de Villeroy (1695–1766) and—from 1748—housed in outbuildings in the park of his château de Villeroy, and in the nearby village of Mennecy (Île-de-France). The history of the factory remains somewhat unclear, but it is typically regarded as producing between about 1738 and 1765.
French porcelain has a history spanning a period from the 17th century to the present. The French were heavily involved in the early European efforts to discover the secrets of making the hard-paste porcelain known from Chinese and Japanese export porcelain. They succeeded in developing soft-paste porcelain, but Meissen porcelain was the first to make true hard-paste, around 1710, and the French took over 50 years to catch up with Meissen and the other German factories.
Rouen porcelain is soft-paste porcelain made in the city of Rouen, Normandy, France, during a brief period from about 1673 to 1696. It was the earliest French porcelain, but was probably never made on a commercial basis; only nine pieces are now thought to survive.
The Porcelain Museum is located in the Casino del Cavaliere, one of the highest points of the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy.
Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro was a porcelain manufacturing factory in Spain. It was located in Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid on a site near the Fuente del Ángel Caído.
Palazzo Ginori is a Renaissance-style palace in Via de' Ginori # 11 in the Quartieri San Giovanni of the city of Florence, Italy.
Vienna porcelain is the product of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory, a porcelain manufacturer in Alsergrund in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1718 and continued until 1864.
The Civic Museum of Palazzo Mosca is the main civic museum of Pesaro, displaying art and decorative works, located in Piazza Mosca in this town of the region of the Marche, Italy.
Vezzi porcelain is porcelain made by the Vezzi porcelain factory in Venice, Italy, established in 1720 by the Vezzi family. It was the first porcelain factory in Italy, after the experimental Medici porcelain of the 16th century. It operated only until 1727, so surviving pieces are few, probably fewer than 200. It made "true" hard-paste porcelain, and was only the third factory in Europe to do so, hiring technicians from Meissen porcelain and Vienna porcelain, the first two makers.
Cozzi porcelain is porcelain made by the Cozzi factory in Venice, which operated between 1764 and 1812. Production included sculptural figurines, mostly left in plain glazed white, and tableware, mostly painted with floral designs or with figures in landscapes and buildings, in "bright but rough" colours. They were rather derivative, drawing from Meissen porcelain in particular in the early years.
Le Nove porcelain was made in the 18th century in the town now called Nove, near Bassano, then in the Republic of Venice's mainland territories, the terrafirma. It was made at a factory owned by Pasquale Antonibon, who was already making fine maiolica in fashionable styles, which continued to be made alongside the porcelain. Production of porcelain began in 1762 and ended when Antonibon died in 1773. But it resumed in 1781, when Francisco Parolin leased the factory for twenty years in a partnership with the Antonibons, known as the "Parolin period". This lasted until 1802. Production of porcelain continued intermittently until 1835.