This fabulous and unusual Marcello Fantoni organically-glazed basket measures 2.25" high by 9" across by 4.5" wide. It has a 'vide poiche' or carry-all shape, with a handle. It is like a basket to my eye. Best of all, it is decorated with a very mid-century modern design of a young woman peeking out from behind the handle. She is wearing a necklace, hair loosely tied in a pony tail. The glazes are 'pretty in pink', in typical organic Fantoni style. This great mid-century basket is essentially unmarked. The underside of the handle almost appears to have some lettering, but nothing legible to my eye. I included images for review. This basket is in original studio condition, with the usual glaze nuances of hand made pots, but no apologies. This is a fabulous MCM Fantoni basket in a great organic glaze presentation.
Born in Florence, Marcello Fantoni registered at the Institute of Art at Porta Romana in 1927 to attend the course The Art of Ceramics. He graduated in 1934 as a ‘maestro’ of art, and began working as a ceramist. In 1936 he established the Fantoni Ceramic studio.
His works can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Art of Boston, the Currier Gallery, the Syracuse Museum. In Britain they are in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, the City Art Gallery of Manchester, at Royal Scottish Museum of Edinburg. In Japan they are present at the Museum of Modern Art of Tokyo and Kyoto. In Italy they are represented at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, the National Bargello Museum and at the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi.
In 1970 he founded the International School of Ceramic Arts at his laboratory in via Bolognese in Florence where he continued to work and teach until his passing in 2011.