Large Ceramic Vase by Umberto Marfisi for Cooperativa Ceramica Imola, 1940s

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Item description:
Spectacular, beautiful, and large majolica ceramic vase, polychrome, third-fired, made by Umberto Marfisi for the Italian manufacturer "Cooperativa … Read more Item description:
Spectacular, beautiful, and large majolica ceramic vase, polychrome, third-fired, made by Umberto Marfisi for the Italian manufacturer "Cooperativa Ceramica Imola," marked in blue underglaze on the base. Note the all-blue decoration in the central part of the vase, the yellow flake decorations, very similar to the famous Ginori fish scale decoration, and above all, the fact that the base is deliberately mounted with the four corners at the front, back, and towards the two handles, instead of being straight as usual. The handles, shaped like seahorses and all hand-crafted in bas-relief, are also fabulous. A truly unique and rare piece.

Useful information for evaluating the item:
Umberto Marfisi boasts impressive auction results, with vases similar to ours or slightly larger selling for between €800 and over €2,000. We found a pair of Pierrot bookends that went up for auction in 2010 at Pandolfini, lot no. 702, with a valuation of €5,000-7,000, to give an idea of the value of this artist's ceramics.

Information about the artist and/or manufacturer:
The manufacturer, Coop. Ceramica Imola, operating in the province of Bologna, was founded in 1874 by brothers Angelo and Giuseppe Bucci. At the end of the 19th century, the tableware and majolica factory was transferred to the workers, who formed a cooperative, with the signing of a Brotherhood Agreement. At the beginning of the 20th century, in addition to traditional Italian majolica, the factory began to produce ceramic tiles for the building industry. At the beginning of the new century, the production benefited from the work of masters Umberto Marfisi, Walter Martelli, and Domenico Minganti. In 1922, the cooperative took over the premises of a glassworks and converted them into ceramics workshops, creating an artistic section that, especially during the 1930s, thanks to the work of talented painters such as Marino Bandoni and Mino Monducci, could be considered avant-garde. In 1946, the artistic director of the cooperative, Domenico Minganti, received the appreciation of Giò Ponti, which in the following years led to the production, based on the great architect's design, of the decoration known as the "blue carnation," a modernist reinterpretation of the monochrome blue decorations of the eighteenth-century tradition, and the creation of a series of four sculptural bottles decorated in gold, white, red, and blue. In 1947, the Cooperative won first prize at the International Ceramics Competition in Faenza. In 1950, the company won second prize in the E.N.A.P.I. competition "Coffee service for two" at the 9th National Ceramics Competition in Faenza. In the early 1950s, the cooperative's headquarters were located at Viale Vittorio Veneto 3 in Imola. Over the years, numerous artists such as Ugo La Pietra, Arrigo Visani, Dante Mariani, Piero Dorazio, Agenore Fabbri, Guido Baldini, Emilio Tadini, Sante Ghinassi, Luciana Lecciardi, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Remo Brindisi, Enrico Baj, and Tullio Pericoli among the Italians, and Joe Tilson, Hsiao Chin, and Igor Mitoraj among the foreigners, collaborated with the manufacturer, which produced their works, unique pieces or limited editions, under the "Imolarte d'Autore" brand. In 1976, the "Cooperativa Ceramica Imola" acquired "Ceramica Santerno." In the mid-1970s, Romano Dalfiume was appointed artistic director of the cooperative. In the 1980s, the "Cooperativa Ceramica Imola" produced a limited number of works, the prototypes of which were created in the workshop of Gianpaolo Bertozzi and Stefano Dal Monte Casoni. From 1980 to 1985, the factory appointed ceramist Emidio Galassi as head of the International Ceramics Research Center. In 1986, among the various collaborators, we remember Antonella Cimatti from Faenza, who worked at the factory as a designer, and painter and decorator Pier Luigi Fabbri. The "Società Cooperativa Ceramica Imola" is still active today, producing floor and wall tiles. In 1987, the Cooperative organized an exhibition of Italian ceramists in New York. At the end of the 1980s, the company called on the Faenza-based ceramist and sculptor Andrea Mauro to collaborate with them, and from 1992 to 2000 he held the position of director of the artistic section. In the mid-1990s, the company hosted Mario Fallini in its workshops, where he created a number of panels inspired by the New Testament, commissioned by the Curia of Alessandria. In 1999, Cooperativa Ceramica Imola participated in "The Spirit of Millennium" award promoted by the National Italian American Foundation, winning first prize with the plate "La Stella del Millennio" (The Star of the Millennium) created by Andrea Mauro.


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