Like a Fellini movie, the ceramics of the famed Italian company Bitossi Ceramiche embody a creative spectrum that ranges from the playful and earthy to the high-minded and provocative. Based in Florence, Bitossi draws on craft traditions that date back to the 1500s. These find expression in Bitossi pottery that includes artisanal vintage vases and animal figures by the firm’s longtime art director Aldo Londi, as well as the colorful, totemic vessels designed by the high priest of postmodernism, Ettore Sottsass.
Bitossi was incorporated by Guido Bitossi in 1921, though the family began making art pottery in the mid-19th century. In the 1930s, Londi came aboard, bringing with him a mindset that respected time-honored craft, yet looked also to the future. On the one hand, Londi’s perspective fostered the making of Bitossi’s popular whimsical cats, owls, horses and other animal figures, hand-shaped and -carved and finished in a rich azure glaze known as “Rimini Blue.”
But with his other hand, Londi reached out to thoughtful, experimental designers such as Sottsass. After hiring Sottsass to design ceramics for his New York imports company, Raymor, American entrepreneur Irving Richards connected the Milanese design polymath to Londi, who introduced Sottsass to ceramics in the 1950s.
During that decade, some 20 years before he founded the Memphis postmodern design collective in Milan, Sottsass used the Bitossi kilns to create timeless works that manifest both primitive forms and modern geometries. In later decades, Bitossi would welcome new generations of designers, which have included such names as Ginevra Bocini and Karim Rashid.
While always looking forward, Bitossi is firm in their belief that mastery of craft is the first step towards beautiful design. As you will see from the works offered on these pages, that is a winning philosophy.
Find a collection of vintage Bitossi decorative objects, lighting and serveware on 1stDibs.
Pair of Table Lamps by Bitossi for Bergboms
By Bergboms, Bitossi
Located in Karlstad, SE
Pair of table lamps featuring ceramic bases produced by Bitossi and mounted by Bergboms during the 1970s. The cylindrical bodies are decorated with a repeating geometric relief patte...
Ceramic
Pair of Scandinavian Midcentury Table Lamps by Bergboms
By Bergboms
Located in Karlstad, SE
This set of two table lamps are designed and crafted by the Swedish company Bergboms during the 1960s. The combination of materials used in their construction, rosewood and brushed metal, creates a simple yet elegant design that will add a touch of sophistication to any room. The design of these lamps is characterized by its slim waist and the beautiful contrast between the warm wood and the sleek metal. The rosewood used...
Metal
Pair of Scandinavian Midcentury Table Lamps by Bergboms
By Bergboms
Located in Karlstad, SE
Set of two rare table lamps by Bergboms, Sweden, 1960s. The lamps are made of rosewood and brushed metal. The design is simple and elegant with the slim waist and the beautiful contr...
Metal
Pair of table lamps model B-024 by Eje Ahlgren for Bergboms
By Bergboms
Located in Karlstad, SE
A refined pair of Swedish brass table lamps with elegant, trumpet-shaped bases and slender stems. The design is balanced and understated, characteristic of Bergboms’ 1970s production...
Brass
Pair of Table Lamps in Brass by Bergboms
By Bergboms
Located in Karlstad, SE
Set of two table lamps by Bergboms made of brass. Simple and elegant design, heavy and high quality lamps as you suspect from the manufacturer. The lamps are rewired and in excellent...
Brass
Pair of Ceramic Table Lamps by Bitossi / Miranda, Sweden, 1970s
By Aldo Londi, Bitossi
Located in Karlstad, SE
Striking pair of 1970s table lamps featuring ceramic bases produced by Bitossi and assembled as lamps by Miranda in Sweden. The cylindrical forms are richly glazed in warm brown tone...
Ceramic
Pair of Table Lamps by Bitossi for Bergboms
By Bitossi
Located in Long Island City, NY
A pair of table lamps by Bitossi for Bergboms, Italy/Sweden, circa 1960s. Textured ceramic with gilded details. Marked by manufacturer. Existing...
A pair of table lamps by Bitossi for Bergboms
By Bitossi, Bergboms
Located in Long Island City, NY
A pair of table lamps by Bitossi for Bergboms, Italy/Sweden, circa 1960s. Textured ceramic with glossy details. Marked and numbered by manufacturer. Existing wiring, rewiring availa...
Ceramic
A Pair of Swedish Modern Table Lamps, Model 8397, Boréns, 1960s
By Boréns Borås
Located in Stockholm, SE
A pair of Swedish Modern table lamps, model 8397, from manufacture Boréns, ,dating from the 1960s. Each lamp features a rounded brass tube with a darker, brownish section. Good vint...
Brass
Pair of Italian Ceramic Table Lamps, 1960s
By Bitossi, Bergboms
Located in Stockholm, SE
Pair of ceramic table lamps produced in Italy during the 1960s. New lampshades. Measures: Height, including shade: 69 cm Diameter, shade: circa 40 cm
Ceramic
Bitossi Table Lamps, Ceramic and Brass, Scandinavian Modern, Italy
By Bitossi, Bergboms
Located in New York, NY
Pair of matte gold glazed ceramic lamps with a "birch tree" off white glazed center. Rewired for use in the USA. Brass necks and hardware.
Brass
Pair of ceramic lamps by Bitossi
By Bitossi
Located in Paris, Ile-de-France
Pair of ceramic lamps by Bitossi Pair of glazed ceramic lamps in shades of gold and copper. By Bitossi (manufacturer) for Miranda ( Swedish retailer ) Italy, 1960 Dimension : H...
Ceramic
