Mancioli - Bottle - Stoneware - Sculpture

Refined and scenographic pair of rare ceramic gres bottle-sculptures in “White Stone” from the Mancioli atelier, datable to the 1970s, of great decorative impact and perfectly in line with Italian Mid-Century Modern taste.

The two pieces depict armored medieval or Renaissance-style figures, interpreted with strong plastic stylization and notable formal elegance. One figure, with slender and solemn lines, holds close to the chest an element reminiscent of an elegant cushion; the other appears as a dignitary, a knight or a sovereign, recognizable by the tall headdress and the sword held in front. The rendering is highly sculptural: the bodies develop vertically, the volumes are compact and synthetic, while the faces, severe and almost theatrical, confer to the whole a decorative presence of great personality.

The finish in deep black/anthracite tones is particularly successful, with a sober and sophisticated charm that enhances the modeling and emphasizes the plastic character of the surfaces. It is precisely this union between the original function of a bottle and the sculptural conception that makes the two pieces extremely interesting for 20th-century ceramic collectors as well as for lovers of vintage furniture and design.

The original toppers, also modeled as the heads of the characters, complete the project with coherence and originality, transforming each piece into a small work of applied art. The pair lends itself magnificently to being displayed on a sideboard, bookshelf, or console, where it can engage with modern, vintage, or eclectic interiors.

Details

Manufacture: Mancioli (Montelupo Fiorentino, Italy)
Period: 1970s
Material: gres ceramic “White Stone”
Number of pieces: 2
Dimensions: height 32 cm, maximum width ~12 cm
Condition: excellent, no defects.
Style: Mid-Century Modern
National and international shipping with careful and protective packaging. Tracked shipment by express courier.

Historical profile of Mancioli
The Mancioli workshop traces its roots to the great ceramic tradition of Montelupo Fiorentino, one of Italy’s most important historic centers for ceramic work. The Mancioli family has been linked to this production since the early 20th century, while the workshop that would come to prominence in postwar Italy developed more structurally from the second half of the 1940s.

Over the decades, Mancioli has distinguished itself by combining artisanal skill, technical quality, and stylistic updating, progressively expanding its production from traditional maiolica to more modern lines, decorative and furnishings. The company thus occupies a prominent place in the history of Italian 20th-century ceramics, thanks to a production capable of dialoguing with contemporary taste without losing its connection to Tuscan tradition.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the period to which this pair can be attributed for stylistic and material characteristics, the workshop produced works with a strongly decorative language, in which the ceramic opens to more plastic, synthetic, and sculptural forms. These bottle-sculptures in gres “White Stone” fit fully into this context, representing very well that era of Italian design in which a utilitarian object also becomes an artistic and ornamental element.