EARLY “RIMINI BLU” ASHTRAY BY ALDO LONDI FOR BITOSSI

An early example of Aldo Londi's Rimini Blu décor applied to a decorative ashtray or vide-poche. Created for BITOSSI CERAMICHE Ceramiche and distributed in the United States by Raymor. ALDO LONDI (1911-2003) was one of Italy's most celebrated ceramicists. He spent most of a long and successful career creating exceptional works of great art and craft for the Italian ceramics manufactory BITOSSI CERAMICHE. Londi’s hometown of Montelupo Fiorentino, just outside of Florence, had been an important center for pottery production since the Renaissance. Londi started working for Fratelli Fanciullacci, the region’s premier ceramics workshop, in 1922 at the age of eleven. After World War II, upon his return to Italy from South Africa—where he had been a prisoner of war—Londi became creative director of BITOSSI CERAMICHE. He would hold this position for more than 50 years and would design over 1,000 objects, ranging from jugs and vases to clocks and animal figurines. Londi's high-level technical e