ALDO LONDI ‘PIETRA’ PITCHER FOR BITOSSI

A blue and white Pietra ("stone") décor pitcher vase designed by Aldo Londi and produced by BITOSSI CERAMICHE for distributor Rosenthal Netter. ALDO LONDI (1911-2003) was one of Italy's most celebrated master ceramists. He spent most of his long and successful career creating exceptional works of great art and craft for the Italian ceramics firm Bitossi Ceramiche. Just outside of Florence, Londi’s hometown of Montelupo Fiorentino had been an important center of pottery production in Tuscany since the Renaissance. At the age of eleven, in 1922, Londi went to work for the region’s then-premier ceramics workshop, Fratelli Fanciullacci (Fanciullacci Bros.). There he would master the time-honored methods of the local industry. Following WW II—upon his return to Italy from South Africa, where he was held captive as a prisoner of war—Londi became creative director at a second Montelupo manufactory, Bitossi Ceramiche. He would retain the position for more than 50 years. Londi's high-level te