Piero Fornasetti Fleming Joffe Porcelain Recipe Plate, Vero-Pig Piccadilly, the 1960s.

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Surreal Supper: Fornasetti's "Vero Pig Piccadilly" Recipe Porcelain Plate

Object: Promotional Plate, "Vero Pig Piccadilly" (Motif from a series of … Read more Surreal Supper: Fornasetti's "Vero Pig Piccadilly" Recipe Porcelain Plate

Object: Promotional Plate, "Vero Pig Piccadilly" (Motif from a series of fourteen)
Designer: Piero Fornasetti
Commissioned by: Fleming Joffe Company (New York, Leather Goods)
Date: Circa 1960s
Materials: Porcelain, Transfer Print
Dimensions: Diameter: 10 1/4 inches

This extremely rare porcelain plate, "Vero Pig Piccadilly," is a piece of fascinating 20th-century design history, blending the surrealist humor of Piero Fornasetti with corporate promotion. It belongs to a limited series of fourteen unique designs commissioned by the New York leather goods company, Fleming Joffe.

Design and Narrative
The plate features a highly detailed, black-and-white illustration of a standing boar (or pig) holding a platter bearing its own head, accompanied by a lengthy, tongue-in-cheek recipe for preparing the "Vero Pig Piccadilly." Fornasetti was known for transforming everyday objects into vehicles for witty, unexpected narratives, and this improbable recipe is a prime example. The accompanying instructions are written in a charming, antiquated cursive font, adding to the eccentric, self-referential humor of the piece.

This series, which presented "decidedly improbable recipes," was created to be given away as annual New Year's gifts to the company’s clients, with two different designs being released each year over seven years.

Historical Context: Fornasetti and Pop Art
The commission for the Fleming Joffe plates in the $1960$s places Fornasetti within the orbit of American pop and commercial art. Fleming Joffe, though a small leather goods firm, had an exceptionally sophisticated appreciation for modern artists. Notably, the company also commissioned Andy Warhol to produce advertisements, showroom decorations, and even booth designs, often pairing his drawings with the whimsical text of poet Ogden Nash.
Fornasetti's involvement reflects the high regard for his whimsical, graphic style among influential American designers and patrons. This plate serves as a physical link between the sophisticated European surrealism of Fornasetti and the burgeoning Pop Art commercial scene in New York.

Reference: Fornasetti: The Complete Universe, edited by Barnaba Fornasetti, page 614, #163. (Discusses the set of promotional plates and confirms there were fourteen different designs made for the company).

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