Aldo Londi Art inspiration | kanobi-graphic-art

Aldo Londi Art inspiration.

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Aldo Londi (1911-2003) was an exceptionally skilled potter and produced ceramics from 1922-2003.

Aldo Londi worked both for the Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers and Bitossi in the city of Montelupo, Florentino, Italy.

The companies are located on the same street with approx. 500 meters distance on the road Via Antonio Gramsci, 50056 Montelupo, Fiorentino FI, Italy.

He came daily until his death at the Bitossi factory to greet and see the day's productions.

Below you finde screenprint's only and pictures of my own including my logo eye as watermark, so I match copyrights;)

I have asked Bitossi Ceramice for permission, provel of my text and I will leave their answer her, when I get it;)

First screenprint Pamono and Aldo Londi page.

Aldo Londi for Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers 1922-1945 and very inspired by Zaccagnini (Ugo Zaccagnini 1868-1937).

Aldo Londi, at the age of 11, is looking for work with the Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers as a potter, first after school and then as a permanent potter. He works here until he was captured in Africa during World War II.

The FF brothers have stated that they could quickly see that this young boy had talent beyond the ordinary.

The Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers are known for beautiful rustic oriental/roman/greek traditional and non-traditional in many styles also sold all over The World.

You can see in Aldo Londi's later creations that he is trained and has collaborated with the FF brothers.

At the same time, Aldo Londi was trained as a painter, sculptor and ceramicist at the local Academy, where he, among other things, was taught by Ugo Zaccagnini, by whom he was greatly inspired. Ugo Zaccagnini twice worked as freelance in between having his two own compagnies together with others.

Below there is a screenprint showing a few of Zaccagnini's and FF's productions. Then you find a wonderful early vase Ugo Zaccagnini & his handsigning with a wide brush! that I would love to affort to buy at Modern Redux US looking as if the umbra brownish Montelupo area clay is leather;) fore sure inspiring Aldo Londi's handsigning, where I got Aldo Londi fabolous lamp chinese glaze;) Ugo handsigned with visible I without a dot, then T, then a round A without visible connection on the top here, but actually connected as a line, so the A look's flat on the top of the round A (wide A) and equal L and Y where each letter stand's on it's own;) See it below. Very simmilar to, what Aldo Londi does though he signed TTALY. Look for more further below....

Fratelli Fanciullacci Ugo Zaccagnini.png

Ugo Zaccagnini vase a la Londi handsigning.png

The Fratelli brothers originally came from the island of Capraia, where the company was founded in 1862 and they moved Fanciulacci ceramics to Montelupo around 1911 for better distribution and became well established and popular.

FF brothers also travels to sell their art clay creations worldwide. They did one number for each creation, so you find how many creations they did by the number painted onto the bottom of the art creation.

In 1966 they opened another factory in Florence, but world demand fell and they closed all activity in 1988 and went back to the island of Capraia.
The factory in Montelupo then stood empty until the family sold it to the municipality 2004 and restored to the current Ceramics Museum of Montelupo Fiorentino.

Aldo Londi and Bitossi Ceramice.

Aldo Londi was related to Bitossi, probably his father was the brother of the the owner at the time back to 1922. Returning from captivity during the Second World War in Africa, he start's working at the company Bitossi in 1946. After a short time, he is employed as artistic head designer together with other designer's at Bitossi and subsequently as a permanent partner.

https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/en.

Aldo Londi as head designer and characteristic of the ceramics.
Aldo Londi expressed stories through ceramics about emotions and intuitions and lived dedicated to art his whole life. He mixed traditions with contemporary art. Aldo Londi is best known for the main serie "Rimini Blue" designed in 1959, which continues to sell well all over the world. He has produced in many colors, patterns and shapes, smooth and mostly rustic clay.

https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/collections/aldo-londi-rimini-blu.

The characteristic of Aldo Londi artistic ceramic craft is that it is eye-catching, it seems harmonious in the forms and you want to touch it;)

You can sense the cultural historical heritage Aldo Londi has also been inspired by and expressed in his ceramic works of art, which are timeless and continuously inspire worldwide.

During all his travels for Bitossi and sales of his creations in residential buildings, etc. worldwide, Aldo Londi also was inspired by local potters and cultures.

He has been a lot in Scandinavia, where he was mostly in Sweden and Denmark. His feather serie Piume produced for Raymore is inspired by Swedish Stig Lindberg feather ceramics.

Aldo Londi made the feathers shine using the clay from Montelupo and glazed it white in his way, where the white glaze look's as floating together and the feathers with thin black lines through them, which makes them look outstanding, well composed and finished.

It is really an honour to have inspired A.L, because he was The Art Genius doing wonderful timeless ancient inspired clay sculptures.

Aldo Londi's white lamp in the Ikano serie with a blue ribbon around is actually quite inspired by Danish Bartholdy Keramik, etc.

His globe Ikano, the globe as symbol, means The Whole or The Whole Universe or The Whole World or everything and "I kano" is written or spoken "in a canoe" in danish, so Aldo Londi must have felt fabolous trying canoe, ex. in Denmark at Gudenåen, where we mostly go by canoe ind Denmark. He also can have joined into the nature by canoe in Sweden and Finland, where they have a lot of large lakes and alway's have used canoes to fish, travel, etc.

So greath, that he made the serie IKANO produced for Bergboms in Sweden with globe symbol. Eg. the white lamps with rimini blue lines around including the circle or globe in his way and then coloring the clay with white as "free spirit" and turquise "main serie rimini blue" as "water from Rimini" glaze. So passionated into life.

Below you find the mainframe serie "Rimini blue" called serie "Spagnoli" handsigned B105/ and stamped ITALY. So here we have a vase that is signed Bitossi done as the 105 production;) As it does not say anything after the / line, I recond that this should really had stayed at Bitossi, Montelupo, Italy. But it did not and I have repaired this beautiful A.L. vintage vase on the vase neck. I rather like this shape than A.L. Ball, because it is incorrect due to the geometric forms and Math's;)

Aldo Londi ceramic colors and structure.

He used predominantly natural colors such as umber (as the Montelupo clay is nature colored umbra toned with white, it is not redish), sometimes a bit of sienna and seldom ochre, along with primary colors, clear blue toned with a bit of yellow, red toned with a bit of yellow, umbre toned with a bit of ochre and white, umbre toned with a bit of sienna, matte or glossy black often on clay without stones in it to color and structure smoothend the glaze.

All ceramics are handmade in clay from the local river, mostly mixed with small pieces of stones, so that the clay seems rustic, but Aldo Londi has also produced ceramics without stones in the Montelupo clay having the color of almost light umbra mixed with a tiny bit of cienne and sunyellow lightened with white and not redish;)

Aldo Londi first created the forms in clay handmaid and then used different techniques to finish his sculptures, such as sgraffito or stamping into it for vases, lamps, ashtrays, bowls, etc. and forms to create reliefs, busts, etc.

When it, both the clay and glaze, is burned on very hight temperature, or burned to hot actually, you get the LAVA structure showing glaze burned to hot with layers flowting together and lava color of the umbra overheated clay and the beautiful serie lava also called chinese glaze rimini blue;)

A.L. used LAVA glaze for some of his wonderful figures, buddha head's, etc., and it is eacy to see, that he was inspired by his master Ugo Zaccagnini also doing oriental figures, eg. in blueish and umbra.

Se it on the top photo as background for the rimini blue geometric symbol patterns or below. I think as the name say's, that Aldo Londi went to Rimini and was taken by the clear blue greenish colors of the water and the waves, so that these colors became essential to his further work. The serie called RIMINI BLUE is the main frame for all his work doing patterns as symbols into the Montelupo clay making it timeless and beautiful.

So the mainframe Rimini blue comes in all sorts of patterns as symbols for eternity, flowers, cirkels as The Whole, etc. and it can also be in other colors than Rimini blue. Then it is not Rimini blue, but a different color, ex. red, black, green, mustard brownish as some call it.

Not all productions have a serie name?, but you find the clues looking Rimini blue by Aldo Londi up;)

First Aldo Londi produced a new creation of the Montelupo clay, which was left to dry until it was ready to work with patterns. It was then glazed in layers with first white, then colored glaze and clear glaze on top. I assume that the glaze is from Murano;)

This process makes the glaze colors appear uneven and transparent clear and beautiful structured by the patterns and also most often by the tiny stones used in the clay.

Not all creations have white as the basic color as well as the serie Genovese though it also has shiny black and matte umbra as basic color on top of the white glaze. Most often red glaze has black as the bottom glaze and some creations are without a base color as my jar above, so the beautiful light umbral clay forms the base color under the glaze layers, where my jar is glazed umbra with a bit of yellow directly on the Montelupo clay;). But the rimini blue serie trifoglio area is glazed white as the basic color.

I think the most beautiful pieces are the ones, where the glaze looks as if the glass glaze has boiled, heather on to hot degrees, so the surface is really rough and with holes in the glaze. wow;) I rather like to think of it as burned glass glaze or heated too hot so it look's like the surface of the moon and not only LAVA;) I really like this structure done by Aldo Londi, propably by a mistake, busy experimenting or playing with materials;)

All Aldo Londi's creations are beautiful art sculptures in themselves showing Mother Earth of Nature in the most fantastic way, but Bitossi has chosen to show the simple beautiful ones on an architecture page.

https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/collections/aldo-londi-arkitectura. https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/en/pages/storia.

Design models as a template for reproductions of Aldo Londi creations.

Aldo Londi designed and produced himself together with other ceramists. Based on Aldo Londi's design's, Aldo Londi for Bitossi has produced moulds for relief, figures, e.g. so many of Bitossi's products are manufactured this way today. When it comes to impressed patterns, Aldo Londi has used and Bitossi still uses pattern stamps created by Aldo Londi.

https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/collections/archivio-storico.

Aldo Londi signatures for the Fanciulacci brothers and Bitossi.

Italian potters collaborate in cooperatives and decide for a given period how to sign Italian ceramics. For many years almost everyone handwrote ITALY though one company also wrote ITALIA - Zaccagnini.

Aldo Londi signed with ITALY both for the Fanciulacci Brothers and Bitossi.

Therefore, precisely Aldo Londi creations must be found in the way Italy is written.

Simmilar ceramic, but not designed by Aldo Londi for FF & Bitossi.

"Studio 4" made simmilar to Bitossi and Aldo Londi rimini blue with patterns. They moved to Capraia. Whas that the Island of Capraia or area Capraia in Montelupo they were actrive poducing simmilar in? Studio 4 were potters that used to work at Bitossi and they made simmilar to Bitossi product, so look for the handsigned marks! The patterns that Studio 4 used were simmilar to Bitossi by Aldo Londi, but not exactly, so also look at the patterns used, because they are not Aldo Londi designed. It is really eacy to see the differences if you know how Aldo Londi patterns look;)

Also Ceramic Tadinate and Deruta still makes simmilar to Aldo Londi for Bitossi, so do also look for the productions and design difference here. Nuovo Rinascimento also did simmilar in the 70'ties, but they used a darker blueish in different blue from primar colors, so look for to colored blue, then it is Nuovo. They did nighter finish the visible inside of lamps, e.g. as Bitossi does inspired by Aldo Londi always doing clay to perfection;)

The Fanciulacci Brothers signed as handwritten ITALY with each letter standing on its own and possibly a production number and one or two FF. As there are two brothers there must have been agreement on how to sign, if you were not FF brothers and I assume, that each potter could sign Italy their way. There where also two way's to handsign when Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers signed, because no one signs totally the same way and for sure not every time you sign.

There is a similar signature with ITA as described, but then there is air between ITA air LY, so that the letters A and L become prominent. These one's signed that way is for sure Aldo Londi signing. See below first row second photo.

On the fourth picture with the red X below you find Aldo Londi way of handsigning Italy as he was working for FF I asume.

Aldo Londi's handwriting TTALY can also be seen on the last picture on the right side second row, but here it says Ztaly;)

Maby he did also the second last on the bottom row;)

He could also have done the third in the first row from left, because there is used different brushsize to sign here.

You also have to look up, what FF did of creations and what Aldo Londi later also did. ex. the vase in umbra with white and green colored stripes below.

Did AL also create simmilar as headdesigner?

Yes, in orange gold and blue gold with LAVA background sgraffito but not as overheated LAVA instead controlled heated and painted as lava structure in blue, lightblue and white dots that all in all made the bottom glace;)

I assume it may be Aldo Londi's signature for the Fanciulacci brothers before WW2, where he distinguished himself by designing his signature ITALY special?

Also seen Aldo Londi's recognizable signature TTALY as described below for Bitossi, but with FF in front or behind or FL in front for FF.

While creating for FF in the last period Aldo Londi made crome/silver on clay with people as decoration as he continues after joining Bitossi.

The shapes of the people changes, the totally ballanced creations turning the clay around while creating did not change, nor did the creativity and the artistical way of creating people;) They just look diffferent in Aldo Londi's way. They are not only wemen all of them as FF created people mostly, Aldo Londi did mixed people as both wemen and men on everything, ex. vases, lamps, etc.;)

If you look on the last photo in first row right above, then it could be Zaccagnini handsigning, because he worked twice as freelance in area Montelupo. But FF brother's also handsigned I T A L Y that kind of way as you see it here.

Aldo Londi signature for Bitossi.

The ceramic signature has had different forms with and without a signature, which are described below, but predominantly first handsigned number out of number ex. 302/18 numbering serie/ how many numbers of product type and underneath Aldo Londi also handsigning TTALY. You can also look only at the numbers and see, that they are written by Aldo Londi.

So if the signature only shows number and nothing after the / or no / there is only one of it's kind for Bitossi or it was Aldo Londi designing for FF brothers, Therefore you also have to look at, how the vase, bowl, etc. is made.

Aldo Londi's signature – his unique way of writing Italy.

When he started at Bitossi he had a short period where he wrote Ztaly.... perhaps with his inspiration for Ugo Zaccagnini and his tribute to his mater as Ugo died in 1937? Seen in the first picture above with a white background. It also looks as difficult to handsign Ztaly, so maby that is why Aldo Londi changed back to handsigning TTALY?

Generally, Aldo Londi signed with TTALY.

• He wrote i and T under the same very long line without a dot over the i, so TT.

• Most often seen together with a round A at the top.

• Next, a smaller L and finally a Y, where the downstroke is very long and goes to the left.

Have also often seen that L and Y are written together. Over time, it is all written together, almost like old handwriting. Depending on the size of the pensil he wrote from left to right or from right to left. If he used a small pensil he wrote from left to right and the opposite.

Or hansigned with only L. numbers out of numbers and TTALY.

Or with handsigned numbers and ITALY or FLAVIA stamp.

Or handwritten with perhaps an initial from different living compagnies, ex. I.B. for Illums Bolighus, number/number and stamped Flavia, which Bitossi was called for a number of years.

Or on reliefs L. Londi

Or with sticker's only. Ex. Bolighuset Illums, so many products are missing marks, because the stickers have fallen off or been removed or washed of.

Or only with handsigned TTALY - then there is only one piece of this kind of Aldo Londi Art Sculpture;)

Since 2003

2003-2007? Is it the time with stamp ITALY, because AL couldn't write his TTALY? No, I think not, stamp ITALY was earlier, so what from 2003-2007?

From 2007-11 Bitossi have now their own stamp Bitossi flower a la Aldo Londi's flower;), which can be seen on their website below or on the screenprint from homepage Bitossi with all the stamps on it above.

https://www.bitossiceramiche.it/collections/archivio-storico.

You can buy new reproductions of Aldo Londi designs and patterns on the above link.

You can also buy vintage products of Aldo londi below on Pamono, witch is the homepage to sell Bitossi vintage, that Bitossi uses nowaday's. It is really expensive here, so look for it somewhere else;)

https://www.pamono.dk/catalogsearch/result/?q=aldo+londi.

Below you find a funny car made as porcelain figure.

It is as if it's first created as a donkey and then transformed to a car.

It is the way Zaccagnini's (Ugo and his children) did porcelain.

It is created with ITALY formed on the inside of the number plate, which is unusual way of stamping ITALY? Outside after heated it is hand decorated with read paint and it look's like L. 2 is painted on the number plate.

I have not found exactly alike, but simmilar done by Giorgio Bessi cars.

The car below is done better than Giorgio Bessie did them, so I think it could be Aldo Londi designing, maby at school taught by Zaccagnini, because Zaccagnini also did porcelain and later also for Walt Disney, US.

The roof of the car is done in the way AL later makes decoration onto lamps and the donkey body and legs on the bottom of the car look's like free form done by A.L., when he made single figures, ex. red bear without patterns and created looking like an creative finished inspiration;)

You for sure get the impression that the figure looks streight at you and the figure expresses it's emotions right there, if it is a Aldo Londi creation.

Because the read bear is only signed with one number and Aldo Londi's way handsigning TTALY, Aldo Londi must have done it for Fratelli Fanciulacci Brothers or there is only one bear for Bitossi or did Aldo Londi also create freelance beside his designer job at Bitossi?

Many Italien cheramic compagnies did donkies also FF produced a lot of donkey's with wagon's for plant's, etc.

Aldo Londi created car's as rimini blue Ford 1910 in his best way of doing artistical clay art's. See them below.

Screenprint AL lamp lines as funny car roof.png

Screenprint Aldo Londi cars round vase.png

Below I first compair handwritten TTALY bought as FF - Fratelli Fanciulacci and for sure Aldo Londi for Bitossi serie Genovese bowl.

I am sure they are all three handsigned by Aldo Londi, though I cannot prove it;) But the handsinging way look's very alike, don't you think? If you think timedifferences and different brushes in as well....;) Unfortunately I cannot ask Aldo Londi.... The silver vase has exactly the same handsigning as the above picture with Aldo Londi handwriting on Rimini blue;)

AL people siver vase 35 kr. second hand DK 1920.png

Then there is Feather serie Piume, Pendel Bartoldy and Al "Tree of life".

The first photo below shows the feather serie Piume and is only handsigned TTALY by Aldo Londi, so there is only one of this beautiful vase.

The middle photo shows a pendel made by Danish Bartholdy Keramik also inspired by Alhambra and the symbols from here that Aldo Londi called Rimini blue serie Spagnoli as well inspired from Granada I think.

Last photo show that A.L. also have handsigned with only L., numbers out of numbers and TTALY. Aldo Londi also got inspired by Scandinavian Myths I think and did "Tree of life" where our Vikings belived in "Ask Ygdrasil" ash tree called Ygdrasil as symbol for The Whole Universe. He has done it square also symbolizing The Whole Universe.

Aldo Londi did only very few of Art Clay Sculptures "Ask Ygdrasil" or "Tree of life" as ashtrays, bowls, doves with lid and only very rare as square wall plates in Rimini blue with Ask Ygdrasil or as it is called on the internet "Tree of life".

Last I also compair Aldo Londi handsigning producing for Fratelli Fanciulacci Brothers and Bitossi.

This way of doing clay, where you scratch, lift and form the surface of the clay is called Sgraffito.

And first you find Aldo Londi Sgraffito People;)

Then you could call the next serie Sgraffito symbol patterns;)

Actually, I think, that you can see in the photos below, how Aldo Londi later, exactly 1959, created the Rimini Blue main serie inspired from his earlier productions of Sgraffito for FF Brothers;)

He used a lot of symbols and I think, that his time in Africa captured during Second World War has inspired him to do patterns alike African patterns. So he also got inspired during the capturing beside the suffering's.

Two Ceramic Museums in the town of Montelupo.

Today's city museum Ceramics Museum of Montelupo Fiorentino is the earlier company Fratelli Fanciulacci brothers renovated and owned by the municipality.

If you then walk max. 500 meters further down the street, Via Antonio Gramsci, 50056 Montelupo Fiorentino FI, Italy, you come to the Bitossi company with the Bitossi Museum as an extension and also designproductions continues with many different designers employed.

https://www.fondazionevittorianobitossi.it/en

You can see a tour at Bitossi Museum on the youtube link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtQYfDqTVLI.

Aldo Londi books Bitossi Ceramice handsigning Strip.png

Aldo Londi books Bitossi Ceramice handsigning.png

Aldo Londi artistical clay creations was and are timeless;)

Aldo Londi all in all handsigned with

TTALY for both Fratelli Fanciulacci Brothers 1922-45 and Bitossi 1946-2003 also seen