Vintage Piero Fornasetti Black & White Ashtray of a Roman Chariot

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Description

Classical Speed: Fornasetti's Roman Chariot Ceramic Ashtray

Object: Ashtray (or vide-poche)
Designer: Piero Fornasetti
Origin: Milan, Italy
Date: Circa 1950s–1960s
… Read more Classical Speed: Fornasetti's Roman Chariot Ceramic Ashtray

Object: Ashtray (or vide-poche)
Designer: Piero Fornasetti
Origin: Milan, Italy
Date: Circa 1950s–1960s
Medium: Porcelain, Black and White Transfer Print
Dimensions: 5 inches diameter x 1 1/4 inches high.

This striking circular porcelain piece, designed by Piero Fornasetti, features a dramatic Roman chariot pulled by two pairs of rearing horses, driven by two classical figures. Rendered in the artist’s signature high-contrast black and white graphic style, the design creates a dynamic sense of motion, with the swirling background lines suggesting speed and energy.

Design and Context
Unlike his famous Tema e Variazioni series, which focuses on a single face, this ashtray demonstrates Fornasetti’s deep and recurring fascination with classical antiquity. Much of his work drew inspiration from the Grand Tour era and ancient Roman and Greek imagery, which he often sourced from 18th and 19th-century engravings and dictionaries. By isolating this heroic image of a chariot race and presenting it on a mundane, everyday object like an ashtray, Fornasetti achieves his characteristic effect of blending the sublime and the ordinary.

The use of black and white transferware was a central element of Fornasetti’s aesthetic, allowing him to quickly reproduce complex, engraved-style images while lending his work a timeless, graphic quality that stood apart from the colorful decorative trends of the 1950s and 1960s. This piece functions as a sophisticated, decorative object (vide-poche or trinket dish) that brings the monumental drama of ancient history into a modern domestic setting.

References:

Fornasetti, Barnaba. Fornasetti: The Complete Universe (Features comprehensive sections on themes beyond Lina Cavalieri, including his classical motifs).

Fondi, Valeria, Fornasetti: Practical Madness (Discusses the designer's graphic style and use of historical source material).

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