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A choice of style in the maiolica of a lady from Turin

On the occasion of the Genoese auctions of Furniture, Ceramics, Sculptures and Works of Art, a selective collection of 64 maiolica pieces from the collection of a lady from Turin will be auctioned on 7 June.

A corpus that represents one of the most interesting ensembles among those assembled after the Second World War in Italy, a particularly happy period for public and private collecting of quality ceramics. Quality was guaranteed not only by the availability on the market of works of great interest, but also by the presence of antiquarian galleries of a particularly sophisticated level (and it is enough to mention names such as Questa and Sprovieri) and a notable fervour of studies around antique decorative arts. The cultured collector, who from the mid-1970s until the beginning of this century began to assemble the works in this catalogue, was in fact able to rely on the Gotha of the time of specialists in the market, both in Italy and abroad.

The collection consists of mostly Ligurian pieces, often of great interest and with a strong decorative impact. It includes some of the best known and most successful types of that ceramic production, starting with the apothecary jars here represented by a large pair made in the Conrado kilns in Albissola (lot 12, estimated value Euro 800 – 1,000), up to the large parade plates, mostly white and blue (lot 29, estimated value Euro 1,400 – 1,600: lot 34 with the Riparola family heraldic weapon, estimated value Euro 1,000 – 1,500).

Particularly intriguing is the small but select nucleus with heraldic decoration, of considerable elegance and of no little artistic historical interest. They were probably commissioned by the Milanese (or Lombard) Bossi family (lot 42, estimate Euro 1,200 – 1,400) or the riser part of the service made in 1686 for the Florentines Giovanni Lorenzo Pucci and Maria Castelli (lot 30, estimate Euro 1,200 – 1,600). Also striking are the large plates on a tapestry background and oriental figure decorations, the famous turcherie, truly elegant (lots 45 – 48, all with an estimate of 1,600 – 1,800 euro). Some examples of notable rarity are particularly interesting: among them, the Guidobono riser, datable to around 1670-1680 and decorated with the episode of the Judgement of Solomon, magnificently set in a bold and elegant architectural perspective (lot 35, estimate Euro 1,600 – 2,200).