Zaccagnini - Figurine (2) - Ceramic

Rare pair of fighting roosters produced by the well-known Italian potter Ugo Zaccagnini. Made in polychrome glazed ceramic, hand-shaped and hand-painted, the roosters are depicted in the midst of combat.

Mark on the back of each piece.

Dimensions 23x22x12 and 28.5x19x12 cm

Excellent overall condition, there are two small defects highlighted in the last two photographs.

The ceramic company “Ugo Zaccagnini & Sons” was founded by Ugo Zaccagnini (1868-1937), a former employee of “Richard-Ginori,” in Sesto Fiorentino in 1905. The first production of the company focused on maiolica and earthenware of historicist type often inspired by ancient models of the Della Robbia.
The company, with which the five Zaccagnini children Urbano, Pietro, Prisco, Adele and Enrichetta collaborated, moved to Florence in 1912 where it began a higher-volume production that was presented in numerous editions of the Triennale and the Milan Fair and at the Florence Handicraft Exhibitions. In the 1930s they collaborated with sculptor L. Contini. Among notable ceramists who worked for the manufactory we also recall the sculptor Fosco Martini who, around the mid-1930s, produced numerous and interesting ceramics depicting animals and the on-glaze painter U. Ciardella.
In 1936, after the founder’s death, the manufactory changed its corporate form and became the “Società Anonima Ceramiche Zaccagnini” with headquarters at 10 Piazza Pier Vettori, Florence, and the role of managing director and artistic director was entrusted to Urbano, the eldest heir. In the same year, thanks to capital injected into the company by industrialist Aristide Loria, the firm became a joint-stock company and invested in modernization and productive capacity. By 1937 the factory employed over 120 people including ceramists and administrative staff, and began exporting its wares to the United States. In the late 1930s collaboration with the factory extended to many artists including Mario Bandini, Ottorino Palloni, Maurizio Tempestini, Gino Pozzi, and Leopold Anzengruber. By the end of the 1930s Walt Disney entrusted Zaccagnini S.p.A., which at that time was based at 10 Piazza Pier Vettori, Florence, with the ceramic production of characters from its cartoons. In 1950 some of the company’s wares, including a series of dishes, were exhibited at the Italian Craft Show at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. In the 1950s a line inspired by abstraction, named “Scandinavian,” was added to the production.

In 1958 Urbano Zaccagnini left the family manufactory and founded “Urbano Zaccagnini Ceramiche Artistiche,” which remained active until the mid-1960s.
The “S.p.A. Zaccagnini” was closed in 2000.

Rare item.