Bitossi

Bitossi is a ceramics manufacturer in Montelupo Fiorentino, on the banks of the Arno a few kilometres from Florence: a small town where ceramics have been made for centuries. It is known for combining craftsmanship, done entirely by hand, with the work of designers, starting with Ettore Sottsass.

Guido Bitossi and Aldo Londi

In 1921 Guido Bitossi founded the Manifattura Maioliche Artistiche Guido Bitossi, which at first carefully reinterpreted classical styles. The turning point came after the war with the ceramicist Aldo Londi, born in Montelupo and just back from five years as a prisoner of war in South Africa, who from 1946 was the company's art director. Londi introduced a modern, experimental language. From 1954, with the American entrepreneur Irving Richards and his company Raymor, he brought Bitossi ceramics to the US market: the most famous series is Rimini Blu, with an intense blue created specially by the Colorobbia colour works, now in several ceramics museums.

Ettore Sottsass

It was Irving Richards who asked Londi to introduce a young Milanese architect to ceramics: Ettore Sottsass, who worked with Bitossi from 1955. Out of this came series such as the Ceramiche delle Tenebre (1963), the Ceramiche di Shiva (1964) and the large Totems (1965–66), which made ceramics a medium of expression for design. In the 1980s the relationship resumed with Sottsass and the Memphis designers, including Matteo Thun, Marco Zanini and Martine Bedin.

Bitossi today

The company, now led by Ginevra Bocini Bitossi, the fourth generation of the family, still works in the same place, with international designers and every production stage in-house, from modelling to firing. Montelupo is also home to the Museo Archivio Bitossi and the Fondazione Vittoriano Bitossi, devoted to the history of the manufacturer.

Sources

• Bitossi Ceramiche – Storia
• Wikipedia – Aldo Londi (it)
• Wikipedia – Montelupo Fiorentino (it)