Spaces: No-name room

Since renovations to the house are ongoing, I don't have any final full-room photos to share...and may not for a while. In the next few posts, I thought I'd show you a few corners, walls, and nooks and  here and there throughout the house.

These shots a room between the formal living room and the family room/dining area. We haven't decided quite yet whether to make it an office or a breakfast room. but for now it holds some of our favorite things.

My Remploy dropfront desk, full of pewter and silver treasures

Frank Lloyd Wright brass picture, vintage gooseneck lamp,
Bitossi bird, studio pottery, mid-century "flash cards,"
and various Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian pewter and silver

My daughter's vintage camera, Carstens floor vase,
and repro George Nelson clock

A favorite Ib Kofod-Larsen chair

Corner built-ins with some favorite Scheurich pottery,
Festivo candleholders, Frankoma pieces, along with
 vintage glass beaker and mortar and pestle
from my grandfather's drugstore

Bitossi big-heartedness

I had to come out of my "getting ready to list a house" hiatus to share an amazing story of generosity and graciousness that warmed my heart.

Last weekend I listed several free items on Craigslist, and a mid-century lover named Brad picked them up. During the course of our brief encounter, I learned that he and his wife are furnishing their "new"20th century ranch style home...and that they're expecting their third child next week.

It's been my experience that many people pick up free items with hardly a thank you, but Brad thanked me profusely and then emailed me a couple of days later to say that he wanted to drop off a gift to show how appreciative he and his wife were.

Today he was waiting for me when the boys and I got home from school. He had a beautiful gift bag, containing this gorgeous Bitossi lidded dish and matching ashtray.

Bitossi lidded dish and matching ashtray

I think I actually jumped up and down a little. Not only do I love Italian pottery, but those of you who have read my blog for any length of time know that I also collect vintage birds. Brad and his wife couldn't have chosen a more perfect gift for me.

I am so moved by their big-hearted gesture. There really are people in this world who repay a kindness with a kindness of their own, and I happen to think that this spirit is the rule rather than the exception in our community of mid-century collectors.

Italian dove bowl

I've had a run of luck lately. First, I got the Alvino Bagni ashtray on eBay for $20, and a couple of days later, I got this Bitossi dove bowl, made for Goodfriend Imports in the 1950s, for less than $10. The glaze on the outside is a warm golden brown with incised hearts, and on the inside it's a deep maroon. We have a number of white-winged doves in the trees in our back yard that sing to us every evening, so I'm especially fond of this piece.

Both pieces have made their way to my room divider and are right at home with the other Italian and West German ceramics in my collection.

Bright spots and silver linings

If you've followed this blog for long, you probably know that I love the Easy Chair design by Ib Kofod-Larsen. Knowing how much I've dreamed of owning one, my SIL split the pair he had in the store and made sure my dream came true. (He's a keeper, I tell you!)

He also gave me a beautiful Italian vase, a Frankoma bowl and a huge art glass bowl that I've long admired. While I was loading up my goodies, my sweet daughter gave me two of her amazing Fabpats as a house warming gift. I was delighted and touched by their thoughtfulness.

The next time you see all these beautiful things, they will be in my new modernist nest. Till then, they reside in the temporary train wreck we call our home.

Yes, this is my life. Handbags stacked in the corner...because I sold the chest they were stored in. A box of extra lighting fixtures waiting to be sold/returned, topped by a steamer that needs to be used on our kitchen floor. (Toddlers are a lot messier day in and day out than they are when just staying with Grammo for a few hours.) Boxes of IKEA Expedit pieces waiting to be assembled. Disconnected cable box and Roku...because I sold the TV they were attached to. Bathroom lavatory in a box waiting for countertops. Displaced Eames rocker waiting for a new home. Pictures to be hung in the new apartment...and one to be sold without a frame, since it was knocked off the wall by a worker who was removing boxes of flooring from my bedroom.

Casting a glow over all this mess and giving me hope...my new Kofod-Larsen chair, Fabpats, bowls and vase.

In the store: More Italian pottery and some cool glass

When my daughter found the cute Caltempo Fish Fin tidbit server the other day, she also brought back a few other pieces, among them a great orange pedestal bowl that's almost a foot in diameter and 6.5" tall. I haven't figured out its history yet, but I'm searching. It's stamped "Handpainted in Italy" inside the pedestal...not the usual handwritten markings on pieces Raymor or Rosenthal usually imported from Italy. What it may lack in pedigree, it makes up for in size, texture and color. It's a stunning piece.

(Update: 8/20/2013 - This is an Aldo Londi design for Bitossi, part of his "Seta" collection. It was produced between 1957 and 1965.)

She also got a very nice quality glass bowl in a rich amber color which is very large and very heavy. It's not marked at all, but at this stage of my research, which admittedly isn't very far along,  I'm guessing Viking, although Wayne Husted did some crazy freeform bowls for Blenko in the 60s. If any of you have any information about either piece, please share it with me.

Italian pedestal bowl by Aldo Londi for Bitossi

Freeform glass bowl, maker also unknown

Tony Paul

Tony Paul (1918-2010) was born in the Bronx, New York and studied at the Pratt Institute. He began his career, which spanned 60 years, as a designer for Robert Barber, Inc. He also worked on ergonomic design for Angelo Bisenz Associates. Early in his career he worked and became friends with Ben Seibel, Arthur Umanoff, Russel Wright and Paul McCobb. He eventually formed Tony Paul & Associates.

Although he designed furniture and housewares, he found his niche in the design of lighting, which he practiced for over 20 years. His designs were distributed by Raymor, Mutual-Sunset, Majestic Lamp, Elk Lighting, Westwood, Robert Barber, The Elton Company, Bitossi and many other companies.

His work has been featured in many design periodicals, as well as books such as Furniture for Modern Interiors by Mario Del Fabbro and Chairs by George Nelson. His work won many design awards.

Biograpical information and images from tonypauldesigns.com

Robert Barber, Inc.,  table

Early chair design

Fireplace group, tools

Interlace group, planters

Tempo group,. ashtray/drink holder

Elton lamp, table lamp

Elton lamp, table lamp

Westwood group, table/magazine rack/lamp combo

Westwood group, table lamp

Westwood group, table lamp

Wires collection, table lamp

Wires collection, floor lamp

Bitossi for Raymor...marked or unmarked?

Guido Bitossi founded Manifattura Cavaliere Bitossi e Fioglia in 1921. The family had been involved in making roof tiles for centuries, and the 1921 enterprises added floor tiles, household ceramic items and art pottery to the line. During World War II, the Bitossi factory escaped bombing, and when they war ended, they began exporting art pottery to American companies like Raymor.

During this early period of 1921 through the 1950s, Bitossi ceramics used the painted mark of a capital letter "B" followed by a period or sometimes an underscored capital letter "B: with or without a period.

That said, many pieces of Bitossi are unmarked. Quite often large and important importers would request that the manufacturer's name be omitted so that consumers would not be able to obtain them anywhere else. This was, and still is, quite common and is the reason so much Italian pottery goes unidentified. 

Sometimes importers might actually own the design rights to a line of ceramics. Raymor is a good example. Owning the design rights allows the importer to contract with any company or number of companies to produce the wares. An importer might have two or more factories producing his line in order to ensure a constant, uninterrupted supply should one factory experience an equipment failure or a worker's strike, which was common in post-war Italy.

Experts readily admit, as does the Bitossi company, that many early pieces left the factory without the Bitossi mark. Mid-century pieces and marked as such are collectible and relatively expensive. Such pieces, whether created by Londi, Fornasetti, Sottsass, Rashid or other great 20th century designers, are works or art.

However, if an item is not clearly marked, it is probably best not to spend a large sum of money on it. Ceramiche Bitossi is willing to help the collector.  If you send a photo to the company, they will authenticate the piece for you.

From a post by Walter Del Pellegrino on italianpotterymarks.freeforums.org 

George Nelson Meridian drink tables made by Bitossi for Raymor, 1950s

Aldo Londi, Bitossi (blue pieces in his Rimini Blu glaze)
modish.net

Aldo Londi, Bitossi for Raymor
modish.net

Aldo Londi, Bitossi for Raymor
modish.net

Bitossi multicolor ceramics
hiandlomodern.com