20th Century Large Scratched Majolicated Ceramic Vase with Animals from the Faci Factory, Civita Castellana, Italy, 1920s

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Description

Item description:
a wonderful, large vase entirely modeled on a potter's wheel, made of glazed majolica ceramic and decorated by … Read more Item description:
a wonderful, large vase entirely modeled on a potter's wheel, made of glazed majolica ceramic and decorated by hand with a central band divided into rectangles featuring animals, partridges, and lynxes, further embellished with other bands with geometric and floral decorations. Entirely finished with scratches using gouges and other tools used for working with ceramics. Made and signed under the base with the "faci" manufacturer's mark from civita castellana. Datable to the early decades of the 20th century, the patina covering the entire vase is excellent, especially under the base, perfectly consistent with our dating. The vase is a good size and the ceramic biscuit is very thick and heavy, considering that the vase weighs over 2.6 kg.

useful information for evaluating the item:
a quick search on the web led us to a site that discusses this manufacturer and lists a series of auction prices ranging from €200 to €1,000. However, it should be noted that most of the vases featured on this site are smaller than ours and that the prices are all very dated, from 2001 to 2013. Considering inflation, today's prices would certainly be much higher. In fact, we also found a faci vase sold in 2024 by the bertolami auction house for €2,600 plus auction fees (auction 27 of 2024, lot 70).

information about the artist and/or manufacturer:
the ceramic manufacturer "f.a.c.i." (fabbrica artistica ceramiche italiane) was founded in civita castellana (vt) by carlo guerrieri in 1926 in collaboration with adolfo brunelli. The following year, with the entry of the "volpato" company, the factory became a joint-stock company and its headquarters were moved to via ferretti. In the same year, the company presented its products at the milan trade fair. Luigi visani collaborated with the factory during this early period. In 1929, "f.a.c.i." was once again present at the milan trade fair and the following year it participated in the leipzig exhibition. The factory's work was well received at a number of craft exhibitions in italy and abroad, winning two gold medals at the fiera del levante in bari in 1933 and at the tripoli exhibition in 1936. Between the late 1920s and early 1930s, the factory collaborated with sculptor giulio francesconi and emilian painter and decorator sante ciani, director of the "regia scuola d'arte per la ceramica di civita castellana" (royal school of ceramic art in civita castellana), and painter guerrino rossi, a great exponent of airbrush painting. In 1936, the "f.a.c.i.", together with adolfo brunelli, took over the "falisca ars" factory in civita castellana, formerly owned by agostino colonnelli. The ceramics produced by the company, generally shaped on the potter's wheel by local artisans, are usually decorated with an airbrush, with the aid of stencils, by decorators, many of whom are students or teachers at the local art institute. Among these we can mention cosimo (casimiro) ettorre, former director of the institute and author of the 1936 book "come si dipinge sulla ceramica" (how to paint on ceramics), and virgilio carotti, whose 20th-century style is very reminiscent of the contemporary porcelain works of "richard-ginori." in the post-war years, the factory decorated its products with airbrush, fabric, and metallic lustre. In 1957, guerrieri left the factory, which was located in via andosilla in civita castellana at the time, leaving it in the hands of adolfo brunelli who, assisted by his son antonio, kept it running until 1967. In the 1930s, a series of futuristic vases decorated with airbrushes, designed by carlo guerrieri, were added to the factory's production of modern and traditional earthenware objects for everyday use and decoration.


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