Marcello Fantoni Figural Table Lamp in Blue and Ivory circa 1950

A beautiful and very early table lamp, with a classical figural imagery that features a mother and child along with angels, by Marcello Fantoni, “the Italian master of beauty.” It embodies the tension, typical of Fantoni’s work, between the dual legacies of ancient and traditional Italian pottery.

There are figures on all side of the lamp.  The body (the background) of the lamp is a light blue (almost a light turquoise) the figures appear in ivory, light gray and some pale yellow (blonde hair on the figures).  

The lamp is signed on the bottom and has the original tax stamps still affixed. 

The lamp was professionally rewired and is ready for a new shade and placement.  It has a socket that can accommodate a 3 way bulb.

The lamp measure 17" Tall (to the top of the socket.  The ceramic portion of the lamp is 12" H x 9.25"W x 7"D.

MARCELLO FANTONI (1915-2011) was born in Florence. He began his studies at the Instituto d’Arte Porta Romana in Florence at the age of twelve under the great ceramicist Carlo Guerrini.  Fantoni’s training in the arts included sculpture classes with Libero Andreotti and Bruno Innocenti and instruction in figure drawing with the painter Gianni Vagnetti; he graduated from the institute as a maestro in 1934. Upon completing a stint as the art director of a ceramics factory in Perugia, he opened the Fantoni Ceramic Studio in Florence in 1936 where he produced both serial and one-of-a-kind pieces, the latter including sculptures and furnishings. In 1937 his work was shown in the Florence National Arts and Crafts Exhibit. Its decoration—with painted figures and African and marine motifs—and its rustic forms captured a great deal of attention. By the onset of World War II at the decade’s end, Fantoni’s integration of decidedly Modernist elements with ancient Italian pottery techniques had brought him artistic and commercial success, at home and abroad.

In the initial years after the War (during which he had participated in the Italian resistance) Fantoni worked for the 500-year-old Maiolica factory in Deruta, Umbria, renowned for its signature tin-glazed pottery. In the 1950’s he refocused on his studio in Florence, dedicating himself to larger sculptural pieces and working together with collaborators. Fantoni’s post-war work, with its technical mastery and wholly unique abstract style, helped push ceramics into the sphere of the serious. It raised the profile of Italian ceramics in particular, laying the groundwork for their lasting prestige. Fantoni drew from varied influences—Primitivism, Novecento style, Cubism, and Abstract Expressionism—experimenting with materials and forms alike. A special emphasis on ancient Etruscan techniques, glazes, and colors heightened the timelessness of much of his work. Every Fantoni piece was ultimately rendered unique by his hand-painting of it. His painting style remains one of the most identifiable qualities of his creations.  This is a fine example of his work.