PINECONE TABLE LAMP ATTRIB. IVO DE SANTIS FOR GLI ETRUSCHI

A substantial, hand-built, pinecone table lamp in the Etruscan tradition, attributed to Ivo de Santis for GLI ETRUSCHI. Decorated with pale pastel stripes of blue and yellow encircling its base, the lamp has been paired with a vintage blue shade. Ceramic pine cones are often seen in Sicily on balconies, walls, or next to gates. The pine stands for health and vitality and, as an evergreen, constant renewal and immortality. With its hundreds of seeds, its cone represents fertility and, in turn, prosperity. IVO DE SANTIS opened his Tuscan pottery studio in Florence in the early 1950s. Very little is known about his biography—or indeed about the history of the workshop, which, presumably in a nod to his heritage, he named GLI ETRUSCHI (the Etruscans). It seems fairly certain that the bulk of its output was exported, as it is unusual to find GLI ETRUSCHI items in Italy. The work of de Santis became very popular in the US in the 1960s and was widely distributed by the American importers Ray