Vintage Ceramic Ashtray by Molaroni Pesaro, Italy, 1900

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Description

MEASUREMENTS:
Height: 5.5 cm; Width: 9.3 cm; Depth: 8.5 cm

Item :
Beautiful and elegant rounded ashtray with a removable … Read more MEASUREMENTS:
Height: 5.5 cm; Width: 9.3 cm; Depth: 8.5 cm

Item :
Beautiful and elegant rounded ashtray with a removable lid and cigarette holder, entirely hand-crafted from majolica and hand-painted at the historic Molaroni factory in Pesaro around the mid-20th century (circa 1950s). The piece is composed of two distinct, superbly integrated elements: an ovoid circular base with a ring of perforated perimeter holes finished in yellow ochre, used to hold cigarettes, and a removable upper plate with a bridge-shaped cigarette holder, enameled in glossy black and trimmed in white. The exquisitely floral and neo-traditional decoration extends along the rounded body in a continuous garland of alternating five-petal corollas in shades of cobalt blue, burgundy red, and yellow, embellished with bright green foliage and minute ornamental dots that stand out against a pale blue-white enamel background. The lower portion of the base features a sophisticated geometric decoration of shaded blue radial pods, framed by concentric yellow and green bands. The back of the piece reveals a pale, finely crafted clay, with the characteristic unfired support ring. The signature on the bottom, brushed in blue in the unmistakable flowing hand of the factory, bears the full inscription "Molaroni Pesaro," certifying its absolute authenticity and prestigious geographical and manufacturing provenance.
Information on the artist and/or manufacturer:
Founded in Pesaro in 1880 by Vincenzo Molaroni, the Molaroni factory is one of the oldest, most famous, and celebrated artistic majolica manufacturers in the world, still operating in its historic original location. Taking over the premises of the 19th-century Benucci e Latti factory, Vincenzo Molaroni transformed the workshop into a center of chemical and stylistic excellence, perfecting glazes and impastos that have remained legendary. The workshop became an international benchmark thanks to its virtuosic reinterpretation of the traditional Urbino "grotesques" and the "Raphaelesque" style, but above all for its ability to reinvent itself throughout the 20th century. Under the guidance of his successors and his brother Giuseppe, the factory welcomed and trained some of the greatest masters and innovators of Italian ceramics in its workshops, such as the renowned Ferruccio Mengaroni. Successfully participating in the World Fairs and the most prestigious decorative art exhibitions, Molaroni Pesaro carried the purity of handmade majolica through the avant-garde and post-World War II design, modifying its color palettes and forms to adapt to modernist tastes. Today, the factory's historic pieces are preserved within public and private museum collections, sought after internationally for the extraordinary brilliance of their vitrified coatings and their rigorous adherence to an art executed entirely by brush that has endured for nearly a century and a half. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
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